Monday, September 23, 2013

Encouraging Word Sept 23, 2013


“I got that Joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart, down in my heart, down in my heart to stay!”


     At first the Pope scared me last week with his message of de-emphasizing the top “hot” buttons the Church has right now, abortion, gay marriages, the Healthcare debates. It was after talking with my wonderful husband, (thank you, Michael) that he pointed out maybe Pope Francis is trying to get us all back to what our Catholic faith is about, Joy and Hope.

 
    Yes, all of those other things are important to keep fighting for, but if in the fight we lose sight of the Joy of our Catholic faith and the Hope that our faith can give us, then we might as well have lost the battle.


   What makes our Catholic Faith different from all other faiths?  Besides the fact that it is the one that can trace its roots directly to Christ, for two thousand years it has been the faith of joy and hope to people who were down trodden, slave, sick, disheartened, poor and lonely.  The Pope is calling us to live in Joy and Hope, not fear of what the world can do to us, not fear of what tomorrow might bring because we don’t know if tomorrow will come. We need to live in the joy and hope of our faith this very day.

 
   Jesus admonished the adulterous woman by simply saying to her, “Go and sin no more,” yet he condemned those people who were slanderous, telling them they are murdering their fellow men in their hearts when they hate and gossip.  Ouch, how many times have I slung oaths and curses at people simply because they get in my way or argue with me?  Are we no better than the Sadducees and Pharisees when we get angry and yell at those people who disagree with the Church’s teachings?  Aren’t we called to love?  Yes, we do not condone, but to let anger rule our faith life is no way to live our faith life.


   Satan plays on our righteous indignation; he knows exactly how to pull us out of our joyful, hopeful, peaceful selves by taunting us with occasions to get mad at the world and the events that unfold.  It is any different of a world than it was 2,000 years ago? People did evil things then too, but Jesus didn’t let that rock his boat and told his apostles to stay calm in the midst of the stormy seas.


   Our seas are pretty stormy now too, and I’ve slipped under the surface of the water trying to get to Jesus plenty of times. Like Peter, Jesus has had to stretch out his hand to me and say, okay, Lisa of little faith, I’ve gotten my Church through this before, I won’t abandon you now. Stop being angry, stop hurting with your words and thoughts!


   So let’s get our joyful back on and show the devil he can’t defeat us. We have God on our side!


Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Encouraging Word September 16, 2013


Smile!

Have you ever noticed that there are days you need to live life light? Those days when you aren’t feeling your best, other people are getting on your nerves, when you feel like the world is becoming a much more scary place?

Live life light on those days and smile.

Living life light means bring your thoughts to a happy level, don’t think so deeply on things. My mom used to admonish me when she noticed I was sitting at the kitchen table or on the couch with a pensive look on my face. “You’re thinking too deeply about something,” she would warn. In other words, stop worrying about whatever you are worrying about!  And she was almost always right. I was worrying about something.

Living life light doesn’t mean you don’t care about life or don’t take anything seriously. But honestly, there are days when we just need to sit at the stoplight and stop being mad at the bad drivers, maybe us included, stop being mad at the world for raising tyrants and ego maniacs. We need to remember that God is in charge of everything. We can pray and ask for help, but wringing our hands, worrying and moaning and groaning won’t get Him to listen to us any more than having a cheerful smile and saying, “Okay, you got this, Lord.”

So try it.  Sit there and smile.  Come on. Think of puppies running over that little kid on that soda commercial, think of Bill Crosby saying “JELLO”.  

When I’m thinking too deeply I remember the video of me tripping down the steps at my sister’s wedding! Or how the bears I knit make me smile.  Or the joy on the face of that little kid down the street trying out a new bike the day after Christmas.

Begin a list: Smile list:

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Encouraging Word September 12, 2013

   I have a cousin who is also a writer like myself. We live several hours apart and so don't get to visit very often except for occasional family get-togethers when we are so busy talking about family stuff we never get to talk about writing.
   But I follow a blog of his, "With Us Still."  His recent blog entry from September 3 was so very insightful I wanted to share it with you too. So click on this link and you can read it too. http://withusstill.wordpress.com/2013/09/03/todays-find-in-search-of-humility/#more-533

   In it he discusses a wonderful essay in "Give Us This Day"  by Brian Doyle on humility.  Check out his blog.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Please, let there be peace on earth

   Please, please, please, let there be peace on earth and if only it could begin with me. I have a fellow blogger who lives in Lebanon and she is worried for her family's safety. She has little babies, she has fellow countrymen. 
   Please continue to pray for our world and for the world peace that still seems to elude us.
   God please hear the prayers of the few who listen to you, make us strong and have voices to spread your Word and your peace.


Genesis 18:32
31And he said, "Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it on account of the twenty." 32Then he said, "Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it on account of the ten." 33As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the LORD departed, and Abraham returned to his place

Monday, September 9, 2013

Encouraging Words September 9, 2013

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.
~ Solomon, King of Israel; Proverbs 12:25


    I am feeling a lot of anxiety lately. Why? I really don't know, but I could use some encouraging words. Like King Solomon says here, anxiety weighs you down.  And it piles higher and higher until sometimes you feel like you're not getting anywhere in your life, your prayer life or anything. 
   Say a prayer for another person today, because they just may be feeling anxious this day and really could use another person's prayer.