The easy way?


The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, 
to be compassionate,
 to have it make some difference that you have lived 
and lived well. --Ralph Waldo Emerson


It’s that time of year, when every other piece of mail is a request for a donation from Boys’ Town, Sierra Club, The American Heart association—the list is endless. And the worst part is, when you send a check, immediately you get a letter asking for another one. It’s hard to say no, but it’s hard to say yes to everyone who asks.

The thing about sending a check is, it’s easy. We feel good about helping someone or some cause, and it hardly takes any effort on our part. And that’s great. Really.

But I would like to challenge you to get your hands dirty this year.

Instead of just sending a check to some distant, sterile clearinghouse organization, why not pick up a few gift cards to local grocery stores and give them, face-to-face, to folks you pass day in and day out? It’s easy to make excuses in your mind not to do this; just for this week, silence that excuse-making voice and offer Love. And while you’re at it, pause and talk with them for a few minutes. Listen to their story. Ask them if they would like you to pray for them—and if they agree, do it. Right there, right then.

You may never know who might come away from this encounter more deeply transformed, you or them. In moments like this, God appears and lingers, blessing and offering grace.


Monday Pause and give specific, deliberate thanks to God for something unexpected you have received. Now pay it forward as you are led. Philippians 2:1-4

Tuesday Think today about the ways you spend your time. Ask God to show you how you can make more time in your life—for God—and then do it.
2 Corinthians 9:6-8

Wednesday Today, focus on some way you routinely “treat” yourself. Just for today, forgo the Starbucks and donate the money not spent. Matthew 5:14-16

Thursday Today, offer the gift of your time. Write a letter. Make a phone call. Be a blessing to another. Psalm 118:1

Friday Think today of a friend, co-worker or acquaintance in need of hope. Reach out as only you can. Let the Spirit lead your heart. Matthew 7:12

Saturday Listen to your heart in silence. Are you content? What is keeping you from being joy-filled? Ask God to guide you in seeking peace. Matthew 6:31-33

Sunday As we gather from our busy lives to praise and worship, give thanks for this place and your church family. Thank God for the generosity of time, talents and tithes that continue to make our mission and ministry possible. Genesis 28:16-16

The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen,
you will fill the world with hope. –Barack Obama

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spiritual dehydration

  Inside myself is a place where I live all alone, and that is where I renew my springs that never dry up. –Pearl S. Buck   The past two years (at least) have been exhausting, haven’t they? We had a pandemic that physically left us anxious and afraid. Our churches, where we go for nourishment, were closed or online longer than we wanted—and even now, we are careful. Politically, we have been divided against one another, and those wounds are still bleeding in many cases. We need to take care of ourselves. And it’s never been more difficult. What to do? How do I make time in our busy schedules—for me ? The simple answer: Whatever it takes. Remember when we would fly to a vacation destination? How the flight attendant would remind us that if the cabin loses pressure, the oxygen masks would drop down out of the ceiling? And that before we offer to help anyone else, we need to have our own masks in place ? Good advice for life in general. Today: Pause. Take inventory ...
Read more

What are you waiting for?

  The waiting is the hardest part. –Tom Petty   We spend a lot of time waiting. Waiting for the coffee to finish dripping. Waiting for the light to turn green. Waiting for the next available agent. It’s inevitable, really. We cannot always be first, and if we aren’t first, we’ll have to wait. But I think the more important thing is to ask yourself: How am I at waiting? Do I find myself getting anxious and fidgety? Am I worrying about things not going the way I really need them to go? Is my attitude rubbing off on people around me? The best way to wait is not to worry where we are in line, or gripe about wasted time. The best way to wait—is to be right there , in the moment of waiting. The disciples waited in fear; we wait in hope. Why not use this waiting time to pray? Welcome God’s presence into your heart. Ask God to bring you into the moment. Inquire what God would ask of you in this moment . Thank God for wisdom, patience, humor. . . . Take a d-e...
Read more

Don't be afraid.

Living is a great deal more than simply not dying. It is carrying out a mission, committing oneself to fashion some meaning that will attain eternity. –Leonardo Boff When asked, “What are you afraid of?” we offer a myriad of answers: snakes, spiders, flying in an airplane. But when pressed, many people, believers and non-believers alike, will admit that the one thing they fear most, at the core of their being, is death. Most of us enjoy having control over our lives, and frankly, we have very little control over, or way of knowing, how or when our earthly journey will end. And we have even fewer concrete answers about what will happen next. We have the profession of our faith and the occasional “crossing-over” story—but. No wonder death is near the top of that list. But sometimes, as I look around, it seems like people are less fearful about dying—and more afraid of living. Really cutting loose and enjoying our time together as human beings privileged to live in God’s am...
Read more