Forgiveness

Sometimes things that happen in this world are so horrendous that we can't begin to understand how human beings can do such things to each other.  It is amazing that life can continue, that people can survive and choose to exist knowing what evil has occurred.  It is only by faith that we can begin to heal.  Death can sometimes be a blessing because it can end pain, torture, and inhumane existence.  I know from people who are uplifted and propelled to a beautiful place during near death experiences who report they are not aware of the pain they are encountering.  They are no longer suffering but the family, friends, and witnesses are agonizing over the their observations. They are the ones who continue to suffer.  The dead are at peace finally. For the people left behind who are filled with anger, regret, hatred, guilt, nightmares, fear, depression, all encompassing sadness and horror, life is no longer worth living until we ask God to intervene and protect all of us from ourselves.  It is only when we can fill our spirits with love, forgiveness, beauty, compassion, faith, hope, and contentment are we able to flaunt and dissipate evil.  The only answer is to ask God to help us accept that evil exists but not allow evil into our own lives. Forgiveness is often the most difficult task we can face but the most rewarding.  We can let God take care of judgement and we take care of our souls.

Work Ethic

During the course of our lives we have the services of many individuals who can help or hinder us on our journey.  Some of us have non-glamorous jobs such as cleaning bathrooms, toilets, hospital rooms or other similar areas.  I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have to use a bathroom that looks and smells clean. I can tell that someone has taken a drudgery type job and has chosen to do it well.  No job is worth doing if it is not done well.  Bless the individuals that do the extra things for others who they might not even know.  I remember many years ago when one of my staff members was providing a bath for a patient.  She made sure there were no wrinkles in the sheets, she placed pillows gently to make sure the patient was comfortable.  She rubbed lotion to keep the patients skin soft and protected.  She gently laid the patient's hands so that her arms and hands were resting cushioned on the blanket.  She reached over and quietly kissed her on the forehead.  It brought tears to my eyes and I was happy to give her a high rating on her evaluation.  There are many others who check on the elderly, disabled individuals, or children; help with putting trashcans back on trash day, bring mail and newspapers to the door, help with shoveling snow, etc. without any money changing hands but instead do these special, beyond the call of duty extras out of compassion and kindness.  Those of us who do a job well, just for the sake of providing the best they can do, will experience the joy of work done well. God knows and appreciates them also.  Their reward is not in tangible things or money.  They instead have a shining spirit and the peace of knowing they have done the best they can do. God bless everyone who does their life's work with joy and attention!  Thank you for providing the example of a positive work ethic!

Going into the unknown

My son, his wife and family are moving from a large city to a rural community due to a job change.  It is a difficult change due to moving far away from family, friends and church community.  I read a quote from Maria Shriver, "You have to be willing to let go of the life you planned in order to make the life you're meant to live."  It is necessary to let "Jesus take the wheel".  We love to plan and it is difficult to let go of those plans we have for our life.  God has the final say and his decisions have a way of complicating our lives in a direction that is often unexpected.  When we look back on the tapestry of our life, we can often see the wisdom and growth we have achieved because of those "side" trips.   Life is an adventure if we can let go of our fear of the unknown and embrace an uncharted future and unforeseen opportunities.  Make God your "co-pilot" as your day begins and you can't go wrong.  Everyday we live with our family and friends is a wonderful gift to experience with God's help.

It could be me

Many times in my life I wondered where and when I would get the money to have enough food for my family.  I worried constantly about money, especially with unexpected issues such as appliances breaking down, illness and cost of medicines, unexpected costs for school, etc.  I know there are many families that are homeless or close to being homeless.  It is probably one of the most gut-wrenching situations that may be caused by external problems and not from laziness or lack of desire to succeed.  I hope that we all remember those who are not as fortunate as we are and need prayers and opportunities and our help.  I think it is one of the hardest hurdles for individuals who are proud and trying hard to better themselves to reach a time when they have to receive help.  It is especially hard to need something, ask for help and to find no assistance available.  While we can't save the world, we can help those we know or come in contact with.  It is amazing how often kindness can come back to us when we are in need ourselves.  I hope I remember to stay alert and aware of others, especially others who are hurting.  I thank God for the blessings I have been given.  

Living to Work or Working to Live

I remember when my adult children were young.  I was a single parent and at times had to work two jobs to keep us going.  At other times I was working full time and going to college at night.  I regret the time away from my children and often felt that I wasn't the parent I wanted to be.  I was only living to be able to spend most of my life working. Work consumed most of my energy that wasn't involved with trying to pay bills and keep food on the table. I don't know if there was any other way to keep a house over our heads.  As I look back, I feel sad for all of the things I missed as a parent.  I was happy that we survived.  Some of us get so used to working excessively that we don't realize we have what we need and it isn't necessary to continue making "more money", If we can do that, it will be possible for us to take time off, take vacations, and spend quality time with family and friends.  Money and things are not the goal in themselves.  They are only valuable in what they can do to help ourselves, family and friends to have their needs met and achieve their goals.  It is the love of family and friends that we carry with us.  I hope that all of us can learn to work with the goal of living constructively and interacting passionately with our families, friends and world.

mistakes

    Today I want to celebrate mistakes.  I know what I am talking about since I have made many mistakes in my life.  Mistakes can often be the beginning of self-understanding and acceptance.  We are not perfect.  We are not dead yet.  If we are living our lives, we are making mistakes!  It is so much easier to do nothing.  We don't have success but we are not having any failures either.  We are only existing because of a fear of making mistakes.  When we make mistakes we know we are alive because we hurt.  We are on a huge learning curve because we have the opportunity to explore what we have done wrong, right those wrongs by forgiving ourselves and ask for forgiveness, and then to go forward with a better plan.  Many things in this world were created because of mistakes! These creations happened when there was another goal, a by-product of another product that was a mistake!  How exciting to discover something new, beneficial and previously unknown because we had the courage to make mistakes!  God takes our efforts and makes them beautiful and productive if we ask Him.  We have the opportunity to look back and laugh at ourselves as we use hindsight to understand what we did "wrong".
   When we learn from our mistakes, it was not a mistake at all.  When we clearly see our mistakes and forgive ourselves, we can begin to accept and forgive others' mistakes.  There is a saying, "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw bricks".  Who are we to judge others when we are not perfect, we are not God.  The world would be more peaceful if we let God do the judging and we practice doing the accepting and forgiving.  God loves us mistakes and all.  Some "mistakes" occur when we do nothing.  Mistakes can occur for things we didn't have the courage to do. Lets begin to live life fully and strive to be the best we can be!

schools

I think it is very sad that we have taken God out of schools and put guns in.  No matter how many guns are available with the individuals with the right training, it is not enough to make schools safe.  The wonderful thing that God gives us is the opportunity to develop self awareness, a strong value system and the ability to have tools to make positive decisions in our lives.  We can develop a conscience, an ability to empathize with others and decrease the power of others over our lives.  God can give us the strength of conviction, faith, courage, and selflessness to stand up collectively to bullies and to show others that we can overcome obstacles in our path in school and in life.  The majority of individuals and families believe in God but we allow the minority to take our faith out of the schools.  There can be accommodations for the minorities who don't believe in God. Then we can allow the majority who believe in God to learn to develop an inner core of decency, love, compassion, acceptance, and forgiveness to embrace all faiths.  God needs to be the center of our lives instead of a forgotten, discarded, unwelcome and sidelined afterthought.  It is through God and faith that we can find true safety.  Children need a moral foundation for their lives.  They are the future of the world.  God is an excellent compass.