Signs of Life


The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination.
--Albert Einstein


My late husband owned a sign shop. He would always say, “Some people spend their whole lives searching for a sign. Me? I make ‘em!” Sometimes, the sign you’re searching for is right under your nose. Here are a few:

Impossible Whopper. Does it ever feel like the life of faith we profess is just too good (or too much) to possibly be true? If those burger guys can make a burger out of plants that actually does taste and chew like beef—suspend your disbelief. Have faith in the One who never grows discouraged.

Live Bait! When Jesus walked along the shores of Galilee, he was looking for folks who would be fishers of people. Ones whose lives were attractive, whether they even spoke a word. Ones whose presence makes folks want what they’re offering. Are we such people today? There are plenty of artificial lures out there, drawing people’s attention with their sparkle and dance. But there still ain’t nothing like the Real Thing.

Yes! We’re OPEN! I often wish I had more of “it” figured out. I like certainties in many areas of my life, faith and God included. But when I begin to actually believe I have it all figured out, that my answers are the only answers? That’s when I have ceased to be open and my mind and heart are officially closing early. Only God is God, and only God knows it all.

What about you? Where do you finds signs of Life that point the way to where you’re headed? God is in the big and the small-- and the silly.


Monday Believe in your power to transform indifference into love. How will you show the world you care? Deuteronomy 30:15-18

Tuesday Believe you have an amazing gift to keep hope alive in the face of despair. Offer a prayer today for someone who is struggling. Psalm 119:1-4

Wednesday Believe you have the remarkable skill of deleting bitterness from your life. Pray today for the courage to forgive someone who has hurt you. Thank God for the peace that will follow. Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Thursday Believe in your budding potential to live with a nonviolent heart. Is there a human rights issue about which you are passionate? Contact your congressional representative and make your passion known. Matthew 5:21-26

Friday Believe in your passion to speak the truth, even when it isn’t popular. Sometimes as Christians we fall silent. Today, pray for conviction to speak truth—in love. 1 Corinthians 3:1-4

Saturday Believe you have the strength of will to be peace in a world of violence. Offer words of peace and a hug (after asking permission). Psalm 119:5-8

Sunday Believe in your miraculous capacity to give—and receive—unconditional love. Greet someone with reckless abandon this morning. 1 Corinthians 3:5-9

The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge
is the power of teaching. --Aristotle

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