A prayer for your Thanksgiving Day ….
Bless, O Lord,
this food we are about to eat;
and we pray you, O God,
that it may be good
for our body and soul;
and, if there is any poor creature
hungry or thirsty walking the road,
may God send them in to us
so that we can share the food with them,
just as Christ shares His gifts
with all of us.
Amen.
Graces, from Celtic Daily Prayer…
We needed a funny way to liven up a boring evening, and firecrackers seemed like a great idea. Steve and I shared an apartment with two other guys, Ron and Ford. They often went to sleep early — way too early for college students. So it was time to jazz things up a bit.
I held the firecrackers. Steve held the match and the doorknob. Once the pack was lit, Steve quickly opened the door. I tossed the pack (yes, a full pack, not just one firecracker) onto the only flat surface visible in the dark room — a desk …
A few days ago I found myself humming the Pirates of the Caribbean ride theme song. You know which one I mean?
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.
We pillage plunder, we rifle and loot.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
We kidnap and ravage and don’t give a hoot.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
What struck me was how I manage to morph so many songs into this one. Can’t quite remember that praise song from church? Somehow I turn it into the Pirate’s song. Those Eagle’s lyrics from the late 70’s just not coming …
Came across this quote a few months ago about making the world a better place, and I’m still processing it. It rings completely true to me but I’ve yet to grasp all the significance it has for our individual, corporate, nonprofit, or other actions.
“It is sometimes easier to make the world a better place
than to prove you have made the world a better place.”
Amos Tversky
There are a lot of organizations and people tackling problems or creating value, many of whom seldom attempt to prove their actions are making the world a better place. Should they be?…
Dear Pastors,
When it comes to social media, please stop posting pictures of yourself on stage. Or the stage itself. Or the band. Or the cool lighting.
To you it looks like an invitation. You think it says, “Look, we’re cool! Come visit!”
In truth it says, “Look, we’re like every other gathering of people you’ve ever been to, with lights, music, and somebody who bores you for 30 minutes in a conference room!”
Most importantly, it does not tell people who Jesus followers really are.
Jesus said we should be known by our love. Not our sound system.
James …
With a lot of travel coming up this summer, here’s my list of ten silly things every traveler should pack. Why silly? I guess because they aren’t really necessary, but sure are handy when you need them.
For years I’ve espoused the excellence of the devotional book Celtic Daily Prayer. This was the daily reading for May 11th:
How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a land that we feel is still strange to us?
Part of our task is to recognize signs of hope, outcrops of the Kingdom, to recognize works of the Spirit even where God’s Name is not named.
We can waste so much energy assuming everyone is against us, and in reacting defensively. Whoever is not against us is for us. This may be the time to form spontaneous coalitions between …
Found this graph on Twitter and laughed out loud. In our age of highly politicizing things, why not do so with the seven deadly sins? And why not bring it up as lent winds down?
Besides, I always have been a moderate, so I approve of sloth being the foundation of my political viewpoint!…