A Special Valentine Greeting – February 14, 2011

February 14, 2011

Monday, February 14, 2011

A Special Valentine Greeting:

Beloved, today is the day when many people celebrate Valentine’s Day, a day of remembrance with the ones we love. While we usually think of only romantic love, let us also be mindful today of agapé love, the pure and selfless love which is unconditional. From popular music to enduring hymns to Holy Scripture, we are reminded the Love is what makes the world go around. Let your love shine and brighten the lives of everyone you meet. Any love you fail to give is love that is lost.

In this illustration, which is the part that was given and which is the part that was kept?

I also want to share with you something written years ago. It is a special valentine to my Dearest Darling Wife, Crucita.

The Priestess and the Oracle*

The westering clouds were dusty
after a hard day’s ride
across the lowlands.
The last light of day
glinted among them
like some cast-off
disc of bronze left over
from an ancient battle.

It was the Day of Choosing.
She would choose her eternal Oracle,
as her predecessors had done.
The crowding throng pressed and swayed.
As the sky darkened, she came out
and stood on the small dais.
She was a queen among queens,
and beautiful. From her pedestal there
she surveyed the lot of us.
The soft lines of her tunic
caressed her breasts and thighs.
Her hair flickered around her face,
shimmering black against the stars.

The assembly erupted in shouts
and gestures, each vying for the
divine honor to be her consort.
My heart was enchanted by her loveliness.
I could neither move nor speak
but only stare. I knew I loved her.

Her eyes scanned the crowd, and still
the tumult increased in all our ears.
Her eyes found mine . . . and stayed.
I began to move. The tangled press opened.
I came closer. The noise stopped.
I could only hear the beating of my heart.
No! There were two hearts, beating apart,
at first, then closed and opened together.
I was for her.

She reached out to me
with her left hand,
palm downward. I could
see her smile. Her dark eyes
and her smile, her eyes, our hearts,
her smile. I reached up
with my right hand and
climbed the last step.

For one incredible moment I could not
live or die. Her tunic fluttered
across my knees. She smiled. It was
as if a hand of searing flame was
thrust into my back between the
shoulder blades. It grabbed my spine
and jerked me upright to stare
into the limitless depths
of those eyes. Our free arms
moved inexorably to complete this first embrace.

I felt my left arm slide into place
around her tender waist.
At the same time, her right arm
moved caressingly across my back.
A wisp of her hair
fell across my shoulder,
and the fragrance of her body
filled me with burning emptiness.
She had found me.
She had claimed me.

I gripped her hand and felt
the power of her gentility.
I pulled her close to me
and turned to face the assembly.

In an instant
the celebration began.
I released her hand. Then,
side by side, in one springing stride,
we streamed across the starry cosmos
in an open embrace
stronger than life itself.

Since then, we have not parted.
Still, each day, as darkness overtakes us,
I see her standing there,
regal, fragile, and yet, much stronger
than I can ever be. I serve her,
not because she is stronger. She will not
use her strength against me.
I serve her because she
seeks to serve me, and
I am unworthy. Each evening
she chooses me, and I choose her.
Both of us know it will always
be that way, but we do it
again, and again, forever because
each day is a new discovery,
a new adventure, a new
Day of Choosing.

Today she told me the way
she remembered that first day:

“It was the Day of Choosing.
He would be choosing his Eternal Priestess
as his predecessors had done.
As the crowding throng pressed and swayed,
he came out on the small dais
to stand against the darkening sky …”

_________

*This is the story of when Crucita and I became a couple.

And this is the secret of our 42 years of marriage.

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

Aloha Friday Message – February 11, 2011 – Need help with that rock?

February 11, 2011

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Matthew 19:26 http://bible.cc/matthew/19-26.htm
Jesus looked at them intently and said, “For humans this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

The passage comes at the end of a lesson on wealth. It is the passage in which Jesus said it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for the rich to get into heaven. His people at that time believed that accumulation of wealth and other material goods was proof of God’s approval. Those who hear this story (see Matthew 19:16-25) they were flabbergasted. How could Jesus say that giving everything away was right? Jesus stunned them further with his statement, “For humans this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

This statement applies when we need help. Sometimes we try so hard to do things on our own. We might even pray for help, and then when God offers it, we decline by stating – or acting as if – we don’t need THAT kind of help.

Here is a favorite story of mine. I hope you enjoy it.

All of Your Strength
====================

A man and his 10-year-old son were hiking the back trails.

The boy stopped to inspect a medium-sized boulder at the side of the trail.

“Dad, do you think I can move that rock?”

The man eyeballed the rock and said, “Yes son, if you use all your strength, you can move that rock.”

The boy braced against the rock and pushed and strained with all his might…the rock didn’t budge.

“Well Dad, you were wrong, I can’t move that rock.”

“No son, I wasn’t wrong, I said that if you used all your strength you could move that rock.

But you didn’t use all your strength

…because you didn’t ask me for help.”

~Author Unknown~

So, the lesson is that we can ask for help from others, especially from God. We need to ask “in faith, believing.” If you have not found a way to use all of the strength, or all of the wisdom, or all of the energy, or all of the courage, or all of the love, or all of the whatever-you-need, then perhaps you have declined the help of the One who is best able to help you. Even if you are absolutely certain you are doing everything right, but still need help, then perhaps you are missing out on using “all your strength.”

I’m working on keeping these shorter, so I will ask you to go back and look at previous prayer requests, go back and look at previous Bible studies, and go back and look at God’s answer when you said to Him, “Help me!” And while you are at it, up the ante a little by also praying, “O God! Help him, and her, and them, and those others too, and help …,”

PS: Sometimes we have the humbling privilege of being the hands, and feet, ears and eyes of Jesus on Earth as part of The Body of Christ. Sometimes being “an instrument of His peace, of His healing, of His loving and hands-on care is the answer to another person’s prayer. “Here I am Lord. Use me.”

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

Peace is with you when you are with Him for He IS our Peace.

Aloha Friday Message – February 4, 2011 – A Gift Beyond Compare

February 4, 2011

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Happy Aloha Friday, Beloved! Here we are already done with the month of January! It seems to fly by so fast and the faster it goes the more intense it gets. We have huge storms rolling across the Globe and unprecedented weather everywhere. We have wars and protests from Afghanistan to Egypt to Iraq. We have persecution and terror in Mexico, Colombia, Sudan and it seems like the World is unraveling moment by moment. It is arduous just to watch the news, and how much more wearying for those who are the news. Is there no peace to be had at all?

Hmmm. Check this out. This was the chosen verse for today:

John 16:33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

This is another quotation from The Final Discourse (see www.aloha-friday.org/archives/1635) and something we easily forget when the weight of the world is on us. This long passage, part of the account of The Last Supper, is a summary of everything Jesus wanted his Apostles to know, and therefore a summary of what we need to know to live as his disciples. Some of the main themes in this section of the Gospel of John are found in 14:27-29; 16:1-4; and 16:9-11.

He encourages his disciples – and us – to take courage, not to worry, “be not afraid,” despite the inevitable persecution, difficulties, and even martyrdom he knew they would face. He assured them that they would not be alone, that no matter how bad it got, no matter how horrible it seemed, he would not abandon them. AND Jesus will never abandon us in our struggles. Christ has taken the victory for us; he has defeated the Accuser and the Accuser’s greatest “weapon,” Death.

I want to take a look at a couple of those themes mentioned previously.

14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. 28 You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.

JOHN 14:27
The Holy Spirit’s work in our lives culminates in total and everlasting Peace. Worldly peace, which is often thought of as the absence of conflict, the end of wars, is not a lasting peace because it is of the World. Jesus’ peace is more than “Shalom.” It is quietude in every set of circumstances we encounter in life. Christ’s Peace holds no room for fear of the present or the future and no room for regrets of the past. When our lives are hammered by the World and its ruler the Accuser we can allow the Holy Spirit to saturate and surround us with Christ’s peace (see Philippians 4:6, 7 for more on experiencing God’s Peace as well as Colossians 3:15).

JOHN 14:28
Jesus willingly submitted to God the Father who was “pleased to crush him and cause him to suffer.” (Isaiah 53:10 http://bible.cc/isaiah/53-10.htm) In this passage, he tells the Apostles he is going back to the Father, back to The Source, back to the Originator of Salvation so they can enjoy the bounteous blessing available only in the Messiah. For him, this is the ultimate Joy which makes enduring his ultimate Passion, Suffering, and Death endurable. God the Father sent Jesus the son; God the Father taught Jesus the Son; God the Father made Jesus the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In carrying out God’s plan for salvation, Jesus also endured many of the same physical limitations as would any human man (Philippians 2:6). Was he not afraid? Was he not in pain? Was he not in anguish over what was about to happen? Of course he was, but he also looked beyond as only God can; not in linear time, but in eternal time. I want so much to share with you something Fr. Ramelo Somera told us last Sunday:

“Jesus did not have a ‘World View.’ He had an ‘Eternal View’ a view that looks beyond time and place and sees everything it time and space as one, whole experience.” (At least that’s how I wrote it down in my notes, Fr. Ramel.) “Ah-HA,” said I. That’s a deal-changer. No wonder he has overcome the World. What if we perceive only trials and sorrows and the course of our lives? Jesus has seen the victory and the joy that is ours when we accept the Gift. He didn’t say, “I’m giving you World Peace.” In fact, he said instead, “You’re going to have a tough time of it.” What he did say was, “I’m giving you (like now) Peace – in me. Be in me and you have Peace – my very own Peace.” Beloved, that beats the daylights out of any peace I could give you or the World could give you. Is World Peace impossible then? Only if it is not his Peace, which unites the World in the joyous victory of God’s Salvation.

You want World Peace, you say? Where is, and more importantly Who is, yourPeace?

JOHN 14:27-29
Everything the Accuser can marshal against us can make us reel with confusion, pain, and even doubt. But Jesus’ gift – his very own Peace – is the Peace of God moving through our hearts and lives to resist, combat, and defeat these hostile forces. We can rely on being victorious and sharing that unsurpassable Peace. That Peace, his personal Peace, is ours if we are willing to accept it from him. Honor the Giver by accepting the Gift, Beloved! Am I “preaching to the choir?” Maybe. Maybe not. Do you feel Peace right this very moment? Or do you feel stressed, or angry, or afraid, or sad, or confused, or perhaps all of these at once? Check around you. Try to figure out where you laid down that Gift of Peace and then walked away from it.

I tell you, I do that so often, you’d think God would be tired of me whining about not being able to find it. But instead, he sends Jesus who taps me on the shoulder (if I’m lucky – sometimes he might need to give me a good swift kick in the head!), and he says, “Hey little brother, I think you dropped this; it looks like it belongs to you.” And there it is again. His Peace is right there in my hands and in my heart and in my spirit. Even if I can hold onto it for only a fleeting moment, it is a moment in him which is a moment in eternity. “Oh, what a foretaste of Glory Divine!” Goosebumps!!

I love you. Make it a great day. In him, you’ve got the World whipped. If you pray, don’t worry. If you worry, ya gotta pray. That’s how it works. There’s a wonderful Present waiting for you. Live in the Present in the present and you will know the Present for eternity.

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

Share-A-Prayer

Prayer for Every Living Soul (/archives/742)
Jesus, lover of mankind, You came to Earth centuries ago to be the way, the truth, and the life, and yet countless men and women, boys and girls, do not know You, do not love You as well as they could, and many are indifferent or opposed to You. In this state of being, Lord, they might not consciously offer You their lives today. There are millions more, Lord, who do know You, do love You, but do not know about, do not care about, or have forgotten about making a daily offering, so Lord, on behalf of all of these souls I offer You the best of their day today so that You might be loved and honored in some way by them, too. Lord Jesus Christ, be merciful to them all as miserable sinners, forgive them their sins, and bring them to everlasting life. Amen.

From FBF CB: Prayers need to go out for a FB friend’s daughter Audrin King and her family. Her two year old daughter was just diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. If you see this post, even if you don’t know her, God knows…

And for all our other friends, family, MBN members, and loved ones everywhere who are facing a similar situation, we ask for your prayers and good will as they confront this ordeal. Special prayers of thanks and praise as well for those who have “turned the corner,” and are entering or sustaining remission or cure.

Beloved, please pray for those who have known the peril and heartbreak of betrayal be it by loved-ones, family members, people at work or school or church, or in any relationship built on trust. Pray that God will nurture in them an irresistible affinity for him so that God’s Peace can restore what has been broken and heal what has been wounded.

Remember also our brothers and sisters all around the world who are experiencing historically terrible weather events on virtually every continent on this Earth. So-o-o-o much suffering! So much need to foster that Peace which surpasses all understanding. And so much necessity to let that Peace blossom into generosity at home and abroad.

And I close with a memorial statement from Todd Headquarters in Aurora, Colorado. Zeta Lorraine Lamke Todd, wife of Charles II and mother of Charles III, Kenneth, Daniel, David, Merilee, and John passed away at Cherry Creek Nursing Center after a very long hospitalization and a very short stint of hospice care. On behalf of the family, we thank you for your prayers over the past few months (ZL in the prayer requests), and we appreciate your statements of condolences and concern. All is well, though, and Mom is at last with her beloved husband (Dad died 13 years ago on his 81st birthday) and daughter. http://newcomerdenver.com/obituary.asp?src=value&obitid=45827&name=Zeta+Todd&city=Denver&st=CO

May Eternal Light shine upon them, and may they and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in Peace. AMEN.

Aloha Friday message – January 28, 2011 – Raining ALOHA!

January 28, 2011

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Happy Aloha Friday, Beloved! Here in Hawaii we are watching as the mainland – indeed much of the whole world – gets clobbered with some of the worst winter weather in decades. Wednesday night on the news they showed a mountain of “displaced snow” 50 feet high and covering 4 acres (Boston). We have flooding on every continent. We have some of the coldest cold ever recorded. Hundreds of thousands of people are stranded clear around the globe. When all this stuff melts, there will likely be more flooding. In places where they use salt and sand to treat the roads (and now even pickle juice and beet juice!), when that melts it will also pollute the rivers and lakes. Seems like too much of a good thing … we need the moisture, but it would be nice if it was spread out a little more across time instead of whomping us in just a few weeks. I mention this because the passage I had selected for this week speaks of rain and snow:

Isaiah 55:10-11
10 For just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down And do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, Giving seed to him who sows and bread to him who eats, 11 So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.

This is part of a beautifully poetic chapter in the book of the prophet, Isaiah, chapter 55. Many of the phrases and images in this chapter are familiar to us – “come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?” And we also remember “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” And this famous quote we hear very often: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Poetic prose perhaps, or prosaic poetry, but beautiful, beautiful words. And God also is telling us in this chapter that He’s going to change the rules of the game, he’s going to make it possible for everyone to win. He’s going to make everything come out right and he himself will save us. At this point God is saying that to succeed in obtaining forgiveness and blessing, man has to obey the law, do the right thing, maintain justice, and keep the Sabbath without desecrating it. And in this God is revealing that he will provide us with the Man, the Word who will do that for us by being with us.

The exuberance in this passage shows a touch of urgency. God is saying, “I’m going to do something amazing and it is almost upon you. Get ready! You don’t want to miss it!” And that is no exaggeration. God himself is saying, “I’m not anything like you. What I can think, and do, and say is so far beyond you that even the smallest thing I do will astound you.” (Ain’t that the truth!) Get on board, little children! We’re headed for the promised land.

Then he gives us this amazing image, a beautiful metaphor of rain and snow. The rain or snow comes from his hand, under his control. It has substance and form. It matters because it is matter. It is real, and it has real effects. It waters and helps nourish the land, the crops, and orchards, the meadows and fields, the rivers and lakes and seas and the oceans, and every living thing in every living place touched by his gift of water. And when it eventually returns to his hands it has accomplished that for which he purposed it.

And is the same fashion as his gift of water is under his control, and has substance, and matters, and accomplishes what he intends so also is his Word. It is clear from the metaphor that this is not merely a spoken word. It is a Living Word that does what he expects to be done before returning to him. Only this time, as God has shown us in the earlier verses of this chapter and so many other places in the Old Testament, God is himself the Living Word. He is the Shepherd who will pasture his sheep. He will do for humankind everything he asked of them and he will do it all for them on their behalf. Once his plan is accomplished, all we humans have to do is accept the plan by believing in the Living Word he’s been telling us about for thousands and thousands of years.

And yet… we hesitate. We hem and haw. We pooh-pooh “religion.” We ignore the miracle of the call – the voice of God saying our names and telling us, “It’s OK. Everything is free. No need to pay for anything that does not satisfy. Just come to me. I’ve taken care of everything you need.”

Another thought: When the rain and snow return to God, they don’t go back in the same appearance as when they came down. They are changed from rain and snow to water vapor- the spirit of water if you will. God’s Word did not return to him the same way he came to us. He was changed. And just as water is always water whether liquid, solid, or vapor, God is always God whether Father, Son, or Spirit. And God did all of this for you. And for you, too, and for me, and for her, and for him and for them and for us. No one is left out. No one is untouched. There is no drought unless we shut out the rain and snow.

“Well, I’d sure like to shut out the rain and snow now! Enough already! We don’t need any more of this.” Sure, the weather has become threatening, but God’s rain of his Word is never threatening. It is always nurturing and always effective when we do not block its effects. We have to be open to the rain. In Deuteronomy 32:2 (http://bible.cc/deuteronomy/32-2.htm) “Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.” And we also read in Hosea 10:12 “Sow for yourselves justice, reap the fruit of piety; Break up for yourselves a new field, for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain down justice upon you.” Beloved, are you not ready to bring in a new harvest of joy and blessing? Let the rain come down, the Living Word will refresh your spirit and nurture your soul. Sing in the Rain! Walk in the Word! God says he will make that Rain and that Word prosperous in your life, prosperous as in making your life a Life in the Spirit through the Water and the Word. It is yours for nothing more than holding out your hand and your heart and saying, “I’d like more, please.”

Beloved, the “more” you will receive is more prolific, more awe-inspiring, more grandly satisfying than anything else you will ever experience.

Share-A-Prayer
Special request this week for Desmond L. who has Stage IV cancer. He and his family know there is no going back, but going forward is difficult because love demands they all must endure what he endures. Pray for them to have strength fortified with compassion and carried to him in the grace of faith so he can know that Peace which surpasses all understanding.

Also for TH: He needs to find something in a clerical type of work – bookkeeping, accounting, QuickBooks – and although staying on Kaua`i is appealing, there’s also the joy of being around his grandkids. Ask God to open some doors for this man of great faith.

For MC: Disastrous week. She and her family will have a very long and slow recovery, and it is possible the worst is yet to come. Pray for a return to church and a way to move away from their current location.

The anniversary last week of the earthquake in Haiti has jolted many of us into realizing that life there is still horrendous for so many. Yet it is also filled with many graces and miracles. Ken, Diane, and Emi Pierce continue to serve in their mission there. Just in the past few days five more babies have been born! Pray for them to find the resources – physical, emotional, and spiritual – to continue this good work.

Beloved, pray for your Pastors, your Priests, and all clergy everywhere. Pray for those who will help you get out into the Rain by getting you down into The Word. Many of our MBN members are members of the clergy, and I can tell you, they depend on our prayers to keep them going.

Please go ahead and post your prayer requests and praise reports at Share-A-Prayer.

(/share-a-prayer)

As I look over this list of prayers, and the requests posted in the 2010 prayer list (/archives/1672), I am so deeply grateful to know that we are praying for, with, and about each other. Pray with, for, and in The Word, Beloved!

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

Aloha Friday Message – January 21, 2011 – Rock On Aloha Friday!

January 20, 2011

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Happy Aloha Friday, Beloved. Did you see the moon Wednesday night? It was so-o-o-o BIG and BEAUTIFUL! I hope someone got a moonshot that night. If you did, can you email it to me at [email protected], please? I would love to post it, and tag it with your name if you wish. Here’s today’s Scripture Quote:

Isaiah 26:4 (NLT)
Trust in the LORD always, for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock

Isaiah 26:4 (KJV)
Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength

When I was growing up there were two particular quiz shows on TV that I really enjoyed. One was You Bet Your Life hosted by Groucho Marx, and the other was Who Do You Trust? hosted by Johnny Carson. These shows ran from the late 50s to the early 60’s. (Visit You Bet Your Life and Who Do You Trust? for details). The basic format for both was to have the host, an announcer, and two people – usually a man and a woman – and the couple would be asked a short series of questions. The goal of the game was to win a small monetary prize. The goal of the show was laughter. Both hosts were extraordinary comedians, and some of the broadcasts became classics.

That trivia tidbit was prompted by this passage in Isaiah. “Who do you trust?” Isaiah says the ultimate source and goal of Trust is God. Isaiah uses a double-take on God’s name, here translated a Lord God or Lord Jehovah. The first part is the Hebrew name jah, and the second one we recognize a transliteration of God’s name for Himself: YWHW. The two names put together emphasize in the highest possible sense the permanent and ubiquitous, self-existent, immutable One-ness of God. There is no higher source of protection, love, strength, or safety and therefore no superlative to the confidence we can have in God’s steadfastness. Isaiah is confirming Israel’s unfaithfulness and affirming God’s unchanging care for them. Think of it as “You’ve tried the rest. Come back to the BEST.” Through all the millennia, this was the central failing of God’s Chosen People: They put their trust in something less than God.

Isaiah says God is The Rock. One poetic expression of that Hebrew term is “The Rock of Ages.” Other poetic references to The Rock come from psalms, I think there are at least 20, and in all of them God is a sheltering and safe refuge, protection from enemies, and an abode for the weary. We have other images about The Rock as in the Rock of Gibraltar, Rock-Solid Truth, Founded on The Rock, and even Plymouth Rock. The connotation is something that endures for an unimaginably long period of time in comparison to human life. So, if we combine the two ideas – the intensification of God’s name as Lord God or Lord Jehovah plus the idea of endurance beyond human comprehension, then there is the sense that God is the only completely and eternally trustworthy being in all of eternity. We can, or at least ought to, always put our trust in Him without fear of His failing us. There is absolutely no adverse human condition in which confidence in God will be unfruitful – not terror or tragedy, not trials or tribulations, not even in death should we fail to trust in His sheltering love and protection. He is The Rock that gets us to higher ground. He is the Stone Mountain that shelters us from every storm. We cannot compare him to earthly rock for there is no comparison. It is His eternal permanence and power that stand in stark contrast to the impermanence of everything The World presents to us – even the Earth He created is ephemeral and super-finite compared to the LORD GOD. Those who place there trust in Him have placed their trust in His eternal permanence and power. There is no comparative, no superlative, and no equal to Him. He is ALMIGHTY GOD ETERNAL. Yes, He is an Awesome God!!

The passage is part of a song Isaiah declares will be sung by The People when God makes his Salvation known. The song continues: “Yet we have this assurance: Those who belong to God will live; their bodies will rise again! Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy! For God’s light of life will fall like dew on his people in the place of the dead!” (Isaiah 26:19)

In a later passage God tells Israel through Isaiah:

“Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.” (Isaiah 44:8) The Bible – His Story – is replete with accounts of God choosing Israel, Israel responding with allegiance, Israel forgoing their allegiance, God’s correction for there errors, and Israel’s repentance and return to God. It is the story of all our lives; each of us experiences the same cycle as the Nation Israel experiences throughout the Bible. We chose to place our trust, our devotion, and our life’s energy in something-less-than-God: Ourselves, drugs, money, fame, a sports team, physical pleasure, “The Force,” science, and every other form of false god. (See June 4, 2010) All of these originate from The World and point to the Accuser a/k/a the Deceiver. Why? Beloved, if only I could answer that!

In the past several years, we have seen how unreliable the financial world can be. Greed and indifference caused suffering for hundreds of thousands of people just in this country. Around the world, the numbers are staggering. We will be recovering from this economic earthquake and tsunami for decades. Does I mean to tell you then that if you place your trust in God all the difficulties in your life with melt away like snow in the desert? No, you know better than that. People suffer, people die, people cause more suffering, people get saddened or hurt by others, and people cannot stay strong and faithful FOREVER just on their strength alone. Young lovers will swear by it, but their “forever” kind of love is no match for God’s steadfast, enduring, unchanging and unchangeable, 100%-pure Love.

Psalm 146:3 tells us not to put our trust in powerful people or any mortal human. They don’t have the power to save us. Only God has that power to save and even to protect. In Micah, Chapter 7, the prophet says “Do not trust in a neighbor; do not have confidence in a friend. From her who lies in your bosom, guard your lips. But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.” (Micah 7:5,7)

These are scary times – if you are of The World. There are many around the world who expect Spaceship Earth to rattle to pieces in just a few hundred days. We have been here for thousands and thousands of years, and in the time the Earth has shown few signs of self-destruction. If you are in The World, but no of The World, there’s no person, place, thing, idea, or even spirit that can make you afraid. If you are in Christ Jesus, you are in the “Cleft of the Rock that shelters the dry weary land.” It makes no difference what happens to The World because whatever it is will be for The World. If you have your trust, your refuge, and your strength IN GOD JEHOVAH, well The World is the background noise 98% drowned out by the Angel’s Chorus of the Ages, the Eternal Symphony, and that odd little tune God hums to himself just loud enough for us to hear: I AM THAT I AM AND I AM ALL WHO I AM, I AM YW YWHW, CREATOR OF ALL THAT IS AND LORD OF ETERNITY.

I’ll tell you what, when I remember to remember that, ain’t nuthin gonna get me down!!

Share-A-Prayer
For discernment and deeper faith for our teens who are under constant attack by The World and the Accuser, that they will climb up and into The Rock to defy temptation – Let us pray to the LORD.

For Christians everywhere who face the challenges of holding faith closer to their hearts than they hold The World – Let us pray to the LORD.

For men and women of all faiths, that they will realize that Peace is the realization of righteousness everything in which they believe – Let us pray to the LORD.

For family and friends who are dealing with life-threatening illnesses, that they will find endurance, strength, and healing in The Rock and in our loving prayers for them – Let us pray to the LORD.

For family, friends, community members, and people everywhere who are being wiped out by this economic crisis, that they may find meaningful work in sufficient quantity and quality to restore their losses – Let us pray to the LORD.

For those who lead and those who serve, that they will do so with Rock-Solid resolve to regard the needs and rights of every living soul, every living thing, and every speck and moment of Creation as Sacred to them because it is Sacred to God – Let us pray to the LORD.

Praise Reports
Thanks be to God for the excellent progress made by Gabrielle Giffords and others injured in Tucson, for the families of those whose loved-ones were injured or killed, and for the millions of prayerful supporters who have taken all this to The Rock – Let us give thanks to The LORD.

Thanks be to God for the excellent progress made by MBN member FO and thanks also for all the prayers and kind wishes – Let us give thanks to The LORD.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for watching over our leaders even in the times of greatest danger so that we know we can continue to rely on their service – Let us give thanks to The LORD.

Thank you Spirit of the Living God for inspiring us and guiding us to be confident in The Rock of Ages, a very present help in time of need – Let us give thanks to The LORD.

Please visit the Share-A-Prayer link to add more.

Thank you beloved for welcoming these little messages. Not as many of you as I hoped have become subscribers, so that is why today I sent just the link to this message. Please just take a couple of minutes and click on the word Subscribe in the right column or click on this link: Subscribe . You just enter your E-Mail address. Then you’ll get an E-Mail asking you to unscramble a kooky looking word, and bingo! You’re a subscriber! Thanks. I appreciate your help with that.

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

chick

Oh, say! Take a look at this thing right below this line. Click on it and you can post this to Facebook, or Twitter, or MySpace, or email it, or share it tons of other ways. Go ahead! Try it. 🙂 🙂 🙂 ❗
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The Brick in the Parking Lot

January 14, 2011

The Brick in the Parking Lot

They say a certain manager was given the task of moving a brick in The Company parking lot. There was a list of rules established about how s/he could do this. The rules were simple:

1. Do not allow the brick to lose contact with the parking lot surface.
2. It must be moved horizontally, not vertically.
3. You cannot use any body part to directly move the brick;
a. You cannot push, pull, kick, or toss it with hands or feet
b. No direct physical contact between you and the brick is allowed during the process of moving the brick.
c. Direct physical contact between you and the brick is allowed only during preparation for the move.
4. You must use a tool or tools provided to you by the Executives at The Company.
5. You are required to complete the move in the time allotted, seven (7) minutes.
6. Failure to complete the task will result in demotion or termination.

The manager reported to the parking lot at the designated time and place. The brick was in the center of the parking lot with several cars parked around it. Next to the brick was a #10 manila envelope. The envelope was labeled “Brick-Moving Tool Kit.”

The manager opened the envelope. It contained an unopened plastic-bag package of 100 Medium Rubber Bands. There was also a small slip of paper which read

Link together to create a chain
not less than 72″ long. Use the
chain to relocate the brick to
the edge of the parking lot.

This seemed like a ridiculous assignment, and yet this manager could not afford to be demoted or terminated, so s/he sat down next to the brick to think about what to do. Fortunately s/he had the foresight to bring the original directive to the parking lot. After reviewing it and realizing the brick could be handled in preparing for the move, the manager got started working on the chain.

In a short while s/he had a chain just over six feet long. The next part of the plan was to decide how to attach the chain to the brick. The brick had to be moved horizontally and had to stay in contact with the surface of the parking lot. It was going to take some careful planning!

The manager thought about what would happen if the rubber band was attached to the brick. If the brick was at one end of the chain and s/he was at the other end, that chain would stretch a long way before the brick would move, and then the brick would move only as far as it would take for the brick to be stopped by friction. Pull-a-lot, stretch-a-lot, move-a-little. Pull-a-lot, stretch-a-lot, move-a-little. Pull too hard or too fast and the chain would break and the manager would get a strong rubber-band snap. Pull too slowly, and the 7 minutes might end before s/he got to the edge of the parking lot.

I will tell you that the manager made it with time to spare, without breaking the chain, and without breaking the rules either. S/he was promoted to Vice President of Planning.

Write me back and tell me how s/he did it.

Aloha Friday Message – January 14, 2011 – Planning for Aloha Friday?

January 14, 2011

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Hebrews 10:15-17 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying: 16 “This is the covenant I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord: ‘I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them upon their minds,'” 17 he also says: “Their sins and their evildoing I will remember no more.”

That was part of God’s plan for our salvation. When you plan, when I plan, when we plan, our plans sometime don’t come together as well as we would like them to. God’s plan was to forget every sin each of us committed. The punishment for any sin remembered was death, and He managed to defeat death so that the punishment for sin was obliterated.

Sometimes it is s-o-o difficult to make plans and even more difficult to stick with them. It seems that many times something interrupts our plans. It might be something we forgot to include in the plan, an oversight; or, it might be something that is outside of our control. When we forget to include some factor or step in a plan we make we feel foolish and wish we had thought of it before our plan was interrupted. When something outside our sphere of influence changes the outcome we intended, we can sometimes feel disappointed, so disappointed that we abandon the plan.

God’s plan has never been interrupted. It has always been right on target. His plan is simple: He will love you until you love him back, and then keep on loving you. And if you never do love him back, he will still love you and keep showing you his love. It has been the same plan since the sixth day of creation, it has been the same plan for every soul that has ever lived, it has been the same plan in every moment of eternity.

Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “Plans are nothing; planning is everything.” So it goes for human plans; but God’s plan (singular) is always the same and never changes. He loves you despite anything you do, any plan of yours that fails, despite anything you do or think or say – he loves you. He even loves me. Some days I can’t get my head around that, especially on days when everything I think or do or say turns out stupid. Sometimes I compound my stupidity by trying to ignore his love, or by being angry with myself and everyone else. He still loves me anyway … and any way. It’s all part of The Plan. Even the painful or heartbreaking interruptions in our plans that are so difficult to deal with at time – all of these are part of The Plan.

Whatever happens, happens for and in the Love of God. When we learn to make that our plan, then all the interruptions are merely part of The Plan. Check it out: Proverbs 3:5-6. (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+3%3A5-6&version=NIV.)

I hope you can take a moment to hop over to www.aloha-friday.org. There is a short article there called “The Brick in the Parking Lot.” Read it, and then post a response about your plan for a solution to the problem presented there. This message is also posted there. And while you are visiting, please take a minute to subscribe.

Meanwhile as part of The Plan, we pray for all these intentions:
For the families and friends of everyone injured or killed in last weekend’s shooting, we ask for God’s healing touch in their lives.

For the return to college life for Jorey, who is doing so very well, we give God thanks and praise for his plan for her life.

For FO who is making remarkable progress in her battle with cancer, we thank God for her strong spirit and for his loving care. She’ll have a surgery on the 18th, so we’ll remember her especially then.

For NA who continues to find ways to be a positive force in life despite the many health problems she has dealt with all her life. God’s Plan includes her, too; she is an inspiration too all of us.

For people and places all over the world getting slammed by the weather, we pray God will show them the way to patience and strength.

For the billions suffering from famine, disease, oppression, terror, war, fear, and abandonment, we pray that God’s Love will be a comfort to them every moment of every day.

For all of the people that willingly help those suffering – directly or indirectly – we pray that the blessing from their help will be multiplied in the lives of those they help.

For those who fear that cannot or should not be forgiven, we pray they will find that God’s Mercy exceeds all their fears and that he indeed says to them, “Their sins and their evildoing I will remember no more.”

And for all the Moon Beam Network, we pray that our prayers will help everyone’s plans to harmonize with The Plan.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved!
Age Quod Agis.

chick

Aloha Friday Message – January 7, 2011

January 7, 2011

THE TODD FAMILY 41st ANNUAL CHRISTMAS LETTER for 2010

Yes, we’re a bit late with this one. This may be our First Annual Epiphany Letter. We wanted to wait until we finished our Christmas Cruise before sending the letter out. We went on a stay-cation this year. We got on the cruise ship Pride of America on Dec. 18, and sailed around the main Hawaiian islands. It was a lot of fun the first time we tried it back in 2005 on the Pride of Aloha, so we decided to try it again.

On-board living was OK. The meals were wonderful, and the cruise-line’s concept of “Freestyle Cruising” makes it a pleasant enough journey. This time we planned fewer sponsored excursions, and a lot more shopping excursions. Kaua‘i usually has a very limited line of clothing, so we hit the Ross stores in Honolulu, Kahului, Kona, and Hilo (there isn’t one on Kaua‘i). That was fun, too.

When we were on Maui we spent the day with Crucita’s nephew and his girlfriend. We got to go to Mass with them Sunday morning and then Breakfast at I-Hop!! It’s been wonderful having family with us here in Hawaii, and visiting them in their home was a real treat.

In Hilo we rented a car and went to see some of the local sites, especially Rainbow Falls. We’d already been to the volcano in 2005 and since it is erupting more the amount of VOG – volcanic ash and fog – was considerable, so rather than risk another upper-respiratory episode, we decided to skip that trip. We spent some time in the large shopping mall and just lucked out to catch a 3-D screening of Voyage of the Dawn Treader – which just happens to be my favorite in the Chronicles of Narnia series. THAT was AMAZING!!

In Kona we took a “land and sea” excursion. We toured along the coast in a really nice tour bus and went to visit the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut factory. It was pretty interesting, and a beautiful drive there and back. One very special stop was at “The Painted Church,” St. Benedict’s in Captain Cook, HI. The pastor there is a great friend and terrific homilist – Fr. Al Rubadello. Or visit was short, but pleasant. He’s a member of the MBN, too!* Then we got on a catamaran and went up the west (Kona) coast of the Big Island and saw the sites from that perspective. On the way back we saw lots of marine life and ran through a drenching rain. No worries, though! It’s only water!!

The cruise then took us back to Nawiliwili harbor on Kaua‘i. While everyone else went on expeditions all over our beautiful island we went home and did laundry, cleaned up the cat boxes, and did some grocery shopping! Christmas Eve we had the joy of helping host the Midnight Christmas Mass aboard ship. Fr. Peter Dumag, the Diocesan Vocations Director, came on board and Crucita and I got to do all of the ministries associated with Mass including usher, lector, cantor for the Psalm, and Eucharistic Ministers. The ship was en route to Honolulu and the seas were high enough that it was literally a “very moving” Mass! There was an on-board nightclub a couple of decks below and the loud music was easily heard in the background throughout the liturgy. It’s the first Mass I ever attended that had a disco beat in the background – POON-dah, POON-dah, POONA-POONA-POON-dah! The experience was all the more blessed because of it being so unusual.

The trip ended in Honolulu Christmas day and we spent a couple of days in Waikiki. We got to go to Mass at St. Augustine by the Sea and met Fr. Lane Akiona, and it was a very lovely celebration for the Holy Family. We hung out in Waikiki for a couple of days – shopping and eating 🙂 . From Waikiki we went by air back to Kaua‘i, and that was a vacation we’ll remember for a long time – but may not do again. The nightlife on the cruise was so loud and so persistent we never got a full night’s sleep. Par-TAY! Until like 1-AM every night, and we were close enough to the main partying centers that we could hear – & feel – the music! OY!

Now, the rest of the family:

TIM is still in Portland, OR. He left his job with Higher Balance and is back to full-time musician – and doing well at it, too. His girlfriend, Chanson, is doing bookkeeping for several companies and still making the most amazing jewelry (see www.fujiokadesign.com for details). You can hear a couple of demo cuts from Tim at http://www.myspace.com/13timtodd13.

Cherie is still in Tennessee. Unfortunately her life is falling apart. Her husband’s drug use escalated and they eventually separated planning on divorce. She’s had huge legal problems based on custody of the kids, and they are now in foster-care. It’s been difficult for all of us. We ask for your prayerful support.

Zeta Todd, Chick’s mom was transferred to hospice a couple of months ago, and actually seems to be doing better now. His brother Dave and Dave’s wife Paula have done super-ordinary things to be her advocates, and we appreciate everything they do.

Crucita continues to teach at Kaua`i High. This year she got to add two new subjects to her repertoire: Sociology and Economics. We talk about retiring someday, but in this economy … “someday” may be a bit farther down the road. She continues to shape and fill the lives of students who are open to learning even as the number of students willing to learn decreases. She is always an exceptional inspiration!

Chick still works for Hawaii Home Infusion as well as for the three retail pharmacies owned by his boss. It is still a complicated job, but he enjoys working at it because of the people he works with. Chick and Crucita are also known as Godpapa and Godmama for Lily Mae and Ryder – our two godchildren. Those kids bring a great deal of joy into our lives, and we love them – and their parents – very, very much.

This year saw the launch of www.aloha-friday.org, an Internet home for the Moon Beam Network* piloted by the talented and generous geniuses at Kukui-IT (see www.kukui.com). The Aloha Friday messages from years past are all uploaded, and each weekly message is instantly sent out to subscribers. Chick is planning to discontinue sending the messages via email, so please make sure you go through the subscription signup process. Click on this link to get there: /subscribe. Both of us are also now on Facebook (who’d a thunk?) so look for us there, too. We are also both still active in our parish’s ministries as Lectors, and happy in our little home with Mimi, Hercules, Frankie, and Zoë. God’s blessings continue to overflow, and we rejoice in longtime friends as well as new friends along the way. And now we send you our traditional family greeting at Christmas time:

May Hope, and Peace, and Joy, and Love be yours through the coming of the Christ Child!
God Bless you all, and Merry Christmas!!!

Chick and Crucita
[email protected] [email protected]
* Contact us about joining the Moon Beam Network if you are not already a member!

About the MBN

And also:
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Happy Aloha Friday! Here is today’s scripture – from Exodus 15:2: My strength and my courage is the LORD, and he has been my savior. He is my God, I praise him; the God of my father, I extol him. In these difficult times, take courage in knowing that God loves you and cares for you. Turn to Him, and He will rescue you. Call to Him, and He will answer your plea.

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

Chick Todd
AGE QUOD AGIS

Supplemental for 2010 – The Petitions List

December 31, 2010

These are the petitions currently on the Morning Prayer List. Each petition is offered up daily early in the morning. If you wish, please join us. Pray for all, or pick a few. Every prayer counts.

Petitions
Jorey’s Prayer

Lord, it’s time to remember Your servant, JOREY CANTU. Watch over her, Father. Bless her. Protect her. Guide her. Direct her. Keep her safe from every harm and danger in body, mind, and spirit. See to her temporal needs and continue to draw her to an ever-deeper spiritual awareness of and commitment to you through Jesus. Increase her faith and fill her with Light.

We are placing this intention in the hands of Saint Damien, knowing that he will carry it to Your Precious Heart, and to assist him we ask St. Pio, Charles, Merilee, Van, Julie, and David to join him in petitioning You for her healing. We ask for a complete healing for JOREY CANTU. Take that tumor away, and make her whole. Pull it out of her with Your own hand or guide the hands of the surgeons who take it from her. Bless her with hope, healing, and health.

We anticipate the inevitable supernatural intervention of God – we expect a MIRACLE! Deliver her from the worries, the side-effects, and the discomforts this tumor brings and let her life be a testimony to the power of love and prayer. We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Christ, who lives and reigns with You, The Father Almighty, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life. Amen!

And now that Jorey has had her operations and is going back to school:

1. Father God we thank you for the privilege of being part of Jorey’s life.
2. With grateful hearts we thank and praise you for the healing you have provided through your mercy in response to our prayers.
3. We also thank you and praise you for the healing you have provided through the work of the surgeons, physicians, and other healthcare practitioners.
4. We thank you and praise you for the compassion you have shown in the healing you have provided.
5. We humbly ask you to continue healing Jorey Cantu. Help her successfully return to her studies, and help her family recover from the impact this experience has had on them emotionally and financially.
6. We ask you to continue strengthening Jorey Cantu’s faith, and strengthen her – in body, mind, and spirit – as she moves toward complete healing.
7. In faith believing, we CLAIM that healing in Jesus’ name and toss in a humongous AMEN.

Prayer for Vocations

Heavenly Father, Your Divine Son taught us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his vineyard.

We earnestly beg you to bless our Diocese and our world with many priests, deacons, and religious who will love you fervently, and who will gladly and courageously spend their lives in service to Your Son’s Church, especially the poor and needy.

Bless our families and our children, and choose from our homes those whom you desire for this holy work. Teach them to respond generously and keep them ever faithful in following Your Son, Jesus Christ, that under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and with the inspiration of Saint Damien and Blessed Marianne the Good News of redemption may be brought to all.

Father we also pray for those men and women who have already answered Your call as St. Damien and Blessed Marianne did. Strengthen and guide them in serving You through the work that they do. Bless them for the sacrifices they make to bring souls into the Kingdom.

Please, Lord, touch also the hearts and minds of our laity to come forward to serve in the ministries of our parishes and encourage many parishioners to volunteer time, talent, and treasure to help our parish be a blessing to our community through their compassionate service to others.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

General Intercessions

Jesus we pray for All the Peoples especially those suffering in Haiti (Daniel & Patterson & Taisha & Jacob), Pakistan, Chile, Darfur and in Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, as well as Tennessee and in other disasters both natural and man-made over the entire world. We pray for Christians and for people of all faiths who are being persecuted for their beliefs.

We also pray that those who fear they cannot or should not be forgiven will find that your mercy exceeds all their fears.

And remember these intentions in your Mercy:
AT – refinement, repentance & reconciliation
A&JB & family >>> house, health, security & happiness
BL >> Vocation, strength and sanctity
B&DW >> healing, access to healthcare
BF – Renewal and rejoicing ♥+♥
CC & family – peace of heart an mind
CT – conversion
CTS – sobriety, renewed family ties
C&SD + FAMILY – reunion and a good job for all
CZ&SK – stability in jobs, joyous faith
C&DO – health
Clergy & Religious in our Diocese – sanctity, wisdom, strength
Clergy & Religious, laity, pastors, and teachers in my past – thanksgiving and praise for the ways they shaped my faith
CA’s job – many blessings for her and the kids, more positive experiences at work and home
C C & HK + I – mental and physical health
C&GW – continued remission
M&P – liberation from bondage, strength, thanks for Guidance
TTs – health and security, reconciliation
Dc. MP – blessings, thanksgiving, and praise for his role in our lives
DN& family – Peace of mind, strength, endurance, respite
DG – blessings, thanksgiving, and praise for being a great example of faith
D’s son, C – conversion
D&S >> gentle life together filled with happiness and love
DR – blessings and thanks for a lasting friendship
CPF – proper use of his gifts
EP & Staff – CONVERSION
FP & family – blessings, thanksgiving, and praise; success in school, growth in holiness
FlO >> Hope, Healing, and Health
Fr. WB – blessings, thanksgiving, and praise; success in his work + traveler’s safety
Fr. BG & staff – OLF&OFM – blessings, thanksgiving, and praise; success in his work; health and freedom from pain, funds for the little stone church
Fr. CF – blessings, thanksgiving, and praise; health; success in his work + traveler’s safety
Fr. EV, Fr. AR, Fr. AS – blessings, thanksgiving, and praise; success in their assigned parishes
Fr. EF & St. Joseph’s Parish – rebuild the church destroyed in bad weather, blessing to the parish
Fr. PM – blessings, thanksgiving, and praise for his presence; success in his work, success for our youth program
Fr. PD & Seminarians – many good priests, – blessings, thanksgiving, and praise; success in his work
Fr. RR – continued and accelerated success for his work; health
Fr. RS & staff – blessings, thanksgiving, and praise; success in his work; strength for challenges
Fr. S and Seminarians in Zambia – many good priests, – blessings, thanksgiving, and praise; success in his work and in their formation
SI’s guardian & teachers – continued success, personal growth and confidence
J&GH – safety, security, peace
J&IM – health and fullness of life
JK & family – courage, health, and faith
JDT & family – deliverance from temporal and health problems, resolution of family problems
J&S – Security, health, and success in their ministries.
KV – rest, health, security, and freedom from pain, success in planning travel
KL & family >> great love, peace of heart and mind
KD – preserve him from evil and despair, improve his health, shelter and income + HOPE.
J&SL + family – resolution
LMG – hope peace joy and love, great faith and many blessings
MG – thanksgiving and praise for that miraculous recovery
MC & family ♥♥♥♥♥ – resolution, freedom, morality, conversion, return to Church, favorable outcome in court.
MEG and ♥♥♥♥♥ her family hope peace joy and love and many blessings
NCB & family great love ♥ – discernment & humility WRT significant others
NA ♥ & Relief from her declining health; genuine love fand a very special other.
NS ♪♫♫♫ blessings and praise; help with her studies
PAB >> Multiple addictions severely affecting health
M&DH – continued discernment and great love; strength to endure the final days of illness.
PF – a joyful and comforting life followed by a peaceful death; MF – patience love strength
Pierce family and their mission in Haiti, traveler’s safety, FUNDING from all of us
Pastors, Rabbis, Priests and Religious, retired – a rich life full of meaning and rest
RU – stay on his meds and stay employed
RG & family – thousands and thousands of blessings for enduring in faith
R&DH – peace and quiet in their lives
RFK & ♥♥♥ family – hope peace joy and great love, many blessings as faith and service increase
Sacred Heart Seminarians Nick Brown and Pila Tulua – many good priests, – blessings, thanksgiving, and praise; success in their studies
S&CC – continued remission
TH – employment and security
Troy in Afghanistan – safety for him and for his comrades, peace of mind for his parents
TM – a call to a vocation
V&S – blessings and peace as they finish out their life together
ZL – comfort while in hospice and a peaceful death soon

Aloha Friday Message – December 31, 2010 – Happy New Aloha Friday, Beloved!

December 31, 2010

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Happy Aloha Friday, the last Aloha Friday of 2010. Here is today’s selection from The List of 52 Verses:

Revelation 21:5 (New International Version, ©2010) http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=2008434989170&source=jl999
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Similar content in scriptures:
Isaiah 43:19 (King James Version)
19. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+43%3A19&version=KJV

2 Corinthians 5:17 (King James Version)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%205:17&version=KJV
17. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

In all of these passages, the word for “new” is a word which means “New and improved” rather than “created.” Here is a sample from my bible-study application at home called BibleWorks (BibleWorks for Windows v. 4.0.032c (3549) Copyright © 1998, by BibleWorks, LLC)

New {kahee-nos’}
1) new
a. as respects form
i. recently made, fresh, recent, unused, unworn
b. as respects substance
i. of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of
ii.
Another word used in the New Testament which is translated as “new” in the sense of a new beginning.
New {neh’-os} including the comparative neoteros {neh-o’-ter-os}
1) recently born, young, youthful
2) new, not remade

Trustworthy: {al-ay-thee-nos’}
1) that which has not only the name and resemblance, but the real nature corresponding to the name, in every respect corresponding to the idea signified by the name, real, true genuine
a. opposite to what is fictitious, counterfeit, imaginary, simulated or pretended
b. it contrasts realities with their semblances
c. opposite to what is imperfect defective, frail, uncertain
2) true, veracious, sincere

True {pis-tos’}
1) trusty, faithful
a. of persons who show themselves faithful in the transaction of business, the execution of commands, or the discharge of official duties
b. one who kept his plighted faith, worthy of trust
c. that whichcan be relied upon
2) easily persuaded
a. believing, confiding, trusting
b. in the NT one who trusts in God’s promises
i. one who is convinced that Jesus has been raised from the dead
ii. one who has become convinced that Jesus is the Messiah and author of salvation

Beloved, this is THE TRUTH spoken by the true Creator and Savior of all that is seen and unseen. It is so true that it is absolutely incontrovertible, undeniable, indisputable, unquestionable, and irrefutable.

The Kingdom of God is at hand, and we walk in it now; yet God promises he will transform everything He created so that it will become permanent, incorruptible, Holy, and completely reconstituted, totally rebuilt from existing parts, and given an entirely new structure.

That is the Hope which becomes the Light which drives away all darkness and draws us and everyone we meet to God’s perfect integrity, endless mercy, and eternal salvation through Christ our Lord.

So, this year – tomorrow – when you say “HAPPY NEW YEAR,” remember this Aloha Friday Message and resolve to be remade as New, Trustworthy, and True through the transformation of your mind, your heart, your life itself in Christ Jesus.

Nativity Scene

Wishing you a Holy and Blessed Christmas, New Year, and Epiphany

Next week we begin 2011 with a commitment to send shorter messages. We want to share with your our 41st annual Christmas letter and 1st annual Epiphany letter. I think we’ll be moving our holiday greetings to the celebration of Epiphany from here forward. The first edition of that letter will be an account of our trip on The Pride of America as we toured nearly all of the main Hawaiian Islands.

Until then, a hui hou, Hau‘oli Makahiki Hou, and God Bless you!

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

Chick Todd
AGE QUOD AGIS…

We hope you will enjoy this delightful presentation:

A Special-Christmas Card (http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=2008434989170&source=jl999)

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