I love to watch Maggie when she is overseeing her backyard domain. Sometimes she goes to the fence and lets out a couple of deep-throated barks to let some perceived threat know that she is on duty. Or she patrols every inch of the yard, sniffing as if it is her first and not her one-thousandth time to do this. But the routine I love most is when she lies in the yard with head high, surveying her kingdom in silence. She is completely dialed in, listening for any disturbance that might need her attention. Maggie is most able to take in her world when she drops the barking and growling. Well played, Maggie. You are doing something most of us humans have a difficult time mastering—simply being silent and observing God’s world. There is hardly ever a complete silence in our soul. God is whispering to us well-nigh incessantly. Whenever the sounds of the world die out in the
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I love the music and lyrics of Christian artist Matthew West. This week I listened to a song titled “You Changed My Name” that resonated deeply in my heart. You changed my name, You changed my nameFrom Too Far Gone to Saved By GraceAnd now I am forever changedAll because You changed my name I still have a tendency to forget that amazing gift of grace from God. He changed my name when I put my faith in Jesus as my Savior. My new name, mentioned several times in the New Testament, is “child of God.” To all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12-13 You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26 Because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Galatians 4:6 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the
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A recent study published by the Psychology Department at the University of Essex looked at the negative emotional and cognitive effect of hearing bad news only. Here is the opening statement from the study. Journalists employing the maxim “if it bleeds, it leads” seem intuitively aware of the negativity bias people have in attending to and remembering bad events over good ones. Indeed, negatively valenced news dominates the press and is shared on Twitter more frequently than positively valenced news journals.plos.org The study went on to note that “news featuring others’ immorality captivates people, it can have aversive affective and cognitive impacts, increasing emotional disturbances and negatively skewing people’s belief in the goodness of others”. I think we have witnessed that increasing and divisive effect on our culture. The authors are correct that such reporting of bad news “captivates” and leads to lots of unhealthy biting on the clickbait of negativity. The study examined an interesting counterbalance. Would showing acts
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Theodore Roosevelt shared great wisdom when he said that “comparison is the thief of joy”. Losing joy is what inevitably happens when you play the no win game of comparisons. We all do it and comparisons are poison to the soul. We either compare to someone doing better than us and feel downcast or compare ourselves to someone failing and feel better. Sometimes we even secretly wish they would fail so we can feel better about our own efforts. In Psalm 139 we read how God uniquely wove our DNA together to create the one and only me and the one and only you. He knew us before we were formed and He has ordained our days. Paul’s message to the Ephesians gets a fresh take in The Message. It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his
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The helpful bit of information below actually appears in a Nissan owner’s manual. Do not fold down the rear seats when occupants are in the rear seat area.(2012 Nissan Juke Owner’s Manual) We laugh but the sad possibility is that this actually happened or some lawyers proactively decided to cover their own rear seat area. A 2009 SAAB manual selfishly suggests “only one person per safety belt”. Mercedes Benz helpfully suggested in 2012 that the driver should “not switch off the ignition while driving” because some features would not work. You can’t make this stuff up. I have never read the owner’s manual of any of the vehicles I have owned from cover to cover. I know that is highly offensive to some. But for some reason I never have the time or concentration to find out how my car can operate more efficiently and trouble free for a longer period of time. Why should I do that? The same
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My book Waking Up Slowly is based on a beautiful Psalm of David. Psalm 139 is one of the most inspiring writings in Scripture. We don’t know when David wrote this stirring account of God’s indescribable attributes. Some believe he wrote it as a shepherd while gazing at the stars and the enormity of the heavens. Some feel he wrote it when he became king over Israel. As a more experienced human being myself (that is PC for old) it certainly feels like David had to have lived a little more life in order to write such a majestic dialog with God. But the truth is we just don’t know. David made three observations about the greatness of God. God knows everything about us. God is everywhere we are. God ordains everything about you. I think and do a lot of things that I would prefer to keep in Las Vegas mode. But David is saying the idea of a
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I recently discovered an immensely talented musician/producer/singer/songwriter from my hometown of Chillicothe, Ohio. Jerry Salley’s career in bluegrass, country, and gospel music has been remarkably successful. I am not sure how I missed hearing about his music but count me grateful I found him. His most recent album, Bridges and Backroads, was produced during the pandemic year and it features a tribute to our mutual hometown of Chillicothe. But one song keeps resonating in my heart as I listen to the album. Without Forgiveness opens during a wedding ceremony as he observes the starry-eyed love of a young couple. They are beginning a journey the writer knows will not always be idyllic. Relationships are hard and often messy. The chorus of the song sums up what that journey could look like if you choose the path of selfishness and pride. Without forgiveness,Life’s a long and empty road.Without forgiveness,We’d give up and just let go. I’ve had a long term and
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