Tag Archives: peace

World Peace in a Sack?

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I asked my ten-year-old grandson what he wanted for Christmas. His dimples deepened in thought, and his reply was, “Nana, I have no idea! I have everything now and don’t need anything more.” And then he looked me in the eye and said, “I’d really like world peace.”

I wanted to hug his little self and not let go, but we were in a hockey arena and ten-year-old hockey players have an image to keep up.

When a child of that age realizes how cruel our world is becoming, and wants world peace over toys and technology, how do we fulfill a Christmas wish like that?

Does Santa have world peace in his sack?

Another Sunday Prayer

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It’s Sunday again and I’d like to share another prayer of the people:

Breathe on us breath of God as we welcome Your Holy Spirit into the silence of our hearts.

Father God, help us to realize that talking about You is not the same as knowing You, and talking to You.

Help us to overcome the obstacles that prevent us from enjoying a closer relationship with You. Help us to trust You completely in the problems we face and the decisions we make each day.

When we are self centered, help us to center on You and the needs of others.

When we are feeling depressed and anxious help us to rest in Your never-ending love and to feel the comfort and peace that Your love brings.

When we lose our sense of compassion, help us to remember Your constant compassion for us and make us aware enough to feel it in our lives.

Make us humble enough to know that You are our help in every need and without You we are incomplete.

Father we pray for our friends and families and for each other and ask that You would replace our grief with peace, our sickness with healing, our poverty with prosperity and our sadness with joy.

We pray for world peace, for unity among all people, for governments of all countries and for courage to stand up to the unacceptable acts of those who have no concern for the lives and welfare of their fellow human beings.

Help these people to find a way to channel their destructive behavior into productive action that they may become caring members of our society.

May our prayers today be acceptable in Your sight, and may we try to make our lives acceptable to You in every way. Amen.

 

Sunday Morning Prayers

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Upon occasion I have been asked to do “prayers of the people” at church. It is a good way for me to learn to pray outside my own box. Thank you for letting me share one of those prayers.

Good morning, Father God. We thank you for this beautiful morning and for letting us be a part of it. We thank you for all our blessings, for all our answered prayers, for forgiving all our sins and we thank you for loving us, sometimes in spite of ourselves. We thank you for being with all the people on our prayer lists, for those who are struggling with many difficulties, for those who are grieving, for those who are suffering illness, for those on the road to recovery and we pray for those who have yet to become aware of your presence in their lives.

We thank you for being with your people all over the world, Father, for those in war torn countries, for those courageously coping with natural disasters, and for those loved ones of ours who live in other lands. Please grant them your peace and protection.

Father, we thank you for this opportunity to worship you, to praise you, to appreciate you and to show our love for you by showing our love for one another. We thank you for our awareness of your Holy Spirit present with us this morning.

We thank you for being with each and every one of us as we go about our daily activities and pray that you will keep us safe from all harm and evil and help us to be the best we can be for you today and always.

Above all, Father, we thank you for Your Son, our Lord Jesus in whose name we pray and who taught us to pray The Lord’s Prayer. Amen.

The congregation then prays The Lord’s Prayer in unison. I’m sure many churches follow a similar procedure, and I find it very spiritual and comforting.

Should We or Not?

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There is something happening on our planet that needs world wide prayer to overcome.

We are told not to fight evil with evil but to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).

The Power of Prayer manifested in global consciousness will go a long way in combating the forces of evil filtering into all corners of our world.

Shall we as a world wide community join forces in calling upon that Power to destroy the evil that seeks to destroy us?m

To those who know that Power as God, should we pray?

To those who don’t, for the sake of humanity, would you? Or not?

 

 

 

About Wisdom

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Your life is a learning process–you can become wiser only by learning. Sometimes you might have to attract making a painful mistake to learn something important, but after the mistake you have far greater wisdom. Wisdom cannot be bought with money; it can only be acquired by living life. With wisdom comes strength, courage, knowing, and an ever increasing peace.

I’m not sure where I read or heard this, but was obviously wise enough to make note of it.

Grieve Not for Me

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Back in 1981 a husband and wife were hurriedly putting the finishing touches on their life’s affairs. She had just been diagnosed with a brain tumor, and had days to live. He was devastated, but intent on carrying out his wife’s last wishes. I was in the middle of typing month-end financial statements when the following poem imploded my mind. I replaced the columnar paper with fresh, white, 8 1/2 by 11, and filled the page with the words that that brave woman inspired.

GRIEVE NOT FOR ME

Grieve not for me though I am gone

For I am with you still.

God grant you strength to carry on

And understand His will.

A soft tear shed from time to time

Will ease your sorrowed mind,

But live your life as fully

As you helped me live mine.

Time will heal the hurting heart,

Faith will see you through;

There’s still a life for you to live,

With courage I leave you.

Remember me with thoughts of peace,

Live each day with your heart;

Grieve not for me for though I’m gone…

We’re never far apart.

©1981

The untimely and tragic death of Robin Williams triggered the memory of this poem. May it bring comfort to someone now as it did to that bereaved husband in 1981.

Freedom

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Free from fear…that’s courage
Free from jealousy…that’s trust
Free from hate…that’s love
Free from anger…that’s peace
Free from ego…that’s freeing
Free from war, bullying, murder, crime, meanness, unjust judgement…and the list goes on…that’s ideal
Free to live life better than our own ability to do so…that’s freedom.

A Family Is…

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A Family is a deeply rooted tree with branches of different strengths all receiving nourishment from an infinite source.

A Family is where character is formed, values are learned, ethics are created, and society is preserved.

A Family is where all members contribute and share, cooperate and work, and accept their responsibilities toward the good of the group.

A Family is where holidays are celebrated with feasting, birthdays acknowledged with gifts, and thoughts of days gone by kept alive with fond remembrances.

A Family is where each can find solace and comfort in grief, pleasure and laughter in joy, and kindness and encouragement in daily living.

A Family is a haven of rest, a sanctuary of peace, and most of all a harbor of love.

I believe most, if not all, of these quotes were written by Manny Feldman.

 

 

 

Peace, Poise and Power

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These words showed up twice in my devotions this morning after I said my usual “What do I write about today, Lord?” prayer.

Some borrowed words will make up part of today’s blog: words from the Bible and other writings. It was John Randolph Price who said “live your life with peace, poise and power” in his book Practical Spirituality. This sounds pretty simple but in reality, is pretty hard to practice when life gives you a smack about the head and ears. But, that is exactly where these words fit in. Pray for peace, practice poise, and feel the Power; God’s power!

St. Peter says, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.” (1 Peter 4:12)

My current trial does feel quite strange, something I never saw coming nor dreamed would ever afflict me. So, poise is called for, and is forthcoming.

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13) Yes!

All this is to say that no matter what surprises life has in store for us, there is an answer.

And so, I come to the end of one hundred blogs in one hundred days. Hurray! To those who have enjoyed and looked forward to them, I say, thank you very much! For those who have not, I apologize. We cannot be all things to all people. I realize that, but it doesn’t stop me from hoping, as this poem I wrote in 1984 implies.

LET ME BE A BLESSING

Let me be an inspiration

to the would-be uninspired,

let me soothe and comfort

when a mind becomes too tired.

Let me have the insight

to know when there’s a need,

let me be a blessing, Lord,

and do a loving deed.

Let me lend a helping hand

without the need to ask,

let me ease the burden

of another person’s task.

Let me bring some happiness

and let there be a time

for me to be a blessing, Lord,

to those whose lives touch mine.

©1984

And now I go forth to live my life, to the best of my ability, in peace, poise and power.

Until we meet again…♥

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its’ a Cardinal Thing

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I have a thing about cardinals. Not the baseball Cardinals, or the religious Cardinals, but those beautiful, red-feathered birds.

They are my sign that all is well when that is sometimes not the case. Just to see or hear one of these cheerful creatures immediately uplifts me.

One beautiful summer morning, while meditating in the garden, there appeared to be more birds than usual fluttering around the feeder.

They seemed to be performing some kind of ritual.  A few of them pecked away at the seeds while others hovered nearby, waiting their turn.

Then, I noticed the birds on the ground feeding each other with the seeds spilling from the feeder.

I sat spellbound watching birds splashing in the bath, swooping and diving, twittering and chirping; ordinary backyard birds; sparrows,  starlings, robins, a finch or two and one female cardinal. Time seemed to stand still.

I was entranced as I watched. Three or four sparrows splashed around in the bath, drank, shook a rainbow of water from their wings, and flew away while others took their place.

The female cardinal took over, vigorously flapping her wings, and sending sprays in every direction.

I remember thinking this whole show was being performed just for me, and that the beautiful, bright red male cardinal, would appear on my clothesline as the grand finale.

As I sat waiting, secure in the knowledge that this would be the case, I suddenly realized that time was not standing still, and I had to leave for work.

Reluctantly leaving the sights and sounds, I went into the house to prepare for the long day ahead.

Disappointed that I would miss the cardinal’s appearance, I was ready to leave when I heard his distinct whistle, “cheer, cheer, cheer”. I knew that when I looked out he would be there—and he was.

“Thank you!” I breathed to God and the red-feathered bird sitting on my clothesline.

It was going to be a great day.