Do you care?
What’s the last thing you said, “I DON’T CARE,” about?
Does it really matter whether you care or not about anything?
You bet!
In fact you actually bet your life on it whether you recognize it or not!
Caring just a Little. . . .
Nope. . .it’s NOT what you’re thinking.
First, you might really be asking what kind of seeds are those?
As soon as I say, “MUSTARD SEED,” Look where your mind goes…right to the Gospel Gutter: IF YOU HAVE FAITH THE SIZE OF A MUSTARD SEED. . . .
Nope! It really isn’t what you’re thinking.
It may well be so that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can move a mountain. . .but if you have the Caring Compassion the size of the a mustard seed you can, continents!
She suffered the death of a child and she was devastated to say the least. She, understandably so, was unconsolable. She sought council from her Priest, her friends, her friend’s friends. She went to the best Counselors and Advisors–Nothing–there was no Peace, no consolation, no relief, real or now, imagined.
Some ONE suggested something that was a little out of the ordinary, and in this particular case, way off the well-traveled paths and even the over-familiar ruts. A Holy Man. A Guru. A Spiritualist. . . .
SEEING
There’s such a very huge distance between Looking and Seeing.
When’s the last time you, you just didn’t look but actually saw what’s behind the eyes, the face of everyone you meet?
Granted, we’re all very busy and it would be just so much easier if we could wear a special set of glasses that would identify the pain of each person, known and unknown to us in a very specific way–taking out all of the guess work.
Your Move
A Simple game, huh?
But why, why is it we take the Simple and make it so complicated?
To make it more important? For it to be taken seriously? To take it more seriously?
Would it make the Checkers Plan inconceivable?
The plan can be implemented in any area of your life, especially the most troublesome ones.
Hit the Rewind button and go back with me for a little bit. When, exactly, was the the last time you actually played a spirited game of Checkers?
Yesterday or yesteryear?
A Completed Pass
It must have made a big impression. I heard the story a very long time ago. A tale about Death.
It involves five brothers, Princes exiled from their kingdom, wandering through the forest and finding themselves thirsty. The youngest goes for water and discovers an inviting lake with a white crane standing at the edge. He sprints for the lake and the Crane speaks right before he dives in for a big gulp.
“STOP!” it cries. “This is my lake. If you touch this water without answering my questions, you will die.”
Desperate, the young man ignores the warning. He bends to drink his fill and falls dead by the water’s edge.
In a few moments the next brother comes in search of the first. He’s really thirsty too and he bends down at the lake’s edge to drink. Just as he is about to quench his thirst, the Crane shouts out to him, “STOP! If you touch this water without answering my questions, you will die.” But even though the young prince sees his brother lying dead nearby, he is so thirsty he can’t help himself. He goes to cup the water in his hands for a full gulp and falls dead at the side of his brother.
Resolve NOT to Resolve
Well, do you or don’t you?
I don’t!
I’m not a list maker to begin with. . .my sticky notes never stay stuck, and if they do, it’s usually something I didn’t intend them to get stuck to and they end up getting lost, forgotten, well–you get the picture.
I adamantly Resolve N O T to Resolve!
F L A S H I N G
Seriously. . .Whatever it is that causes you to break out, to Flash Mob in Song, may it happen unexpectedly and repeatedly and more, May you BE the Cause of IT to happen Unexpectedly and Repeatedly (For) to Others.
Discover your very best is so much more than a Season or an event, or an occurrence–a Happening!
The Greatest Gift
Wouldn’t it be great?
You think you’re home for the evening; you have no plans or DO YOU?
Your doorbell rings. You contemplate even answering it, but you do. There’s a man in an elegant tuxedo, top hat, white gloves and a cane. You see over his shoulder that there’s a luxurious limo and he tells you he’s here to escort you to a very special place where “NO” doesn’t exist. You throw on a pair of jeans that don’t have last night’s dinner remains on it and a shirt that doesn’t have the powder sugar your donut snowed all over it just before the doorbell rang.
Love’s NOT the Greatest Thing
First time for me in 33 years of Ministry. A double-wedding ceremony.
It took place at the David Simpson Hospice House in Cleveland around 10:15 a.m. on 12/11/13.
Their mother is very sick and is declining rather quickly. “THEY” wanted to do something about as special as a son and a daughter can do for an ailing mother. Take her to a wedding: THEIR’S!
With a small amount of family and friends gathered into The Mediation Room that overlooked an angry Lake Erie on a dishwater gray Winter morning, they wheeled the bed of their mother into that small gathering.
I told them as we began the service, that no matter what Cathedral or highly adorned Sanctuary they’d ever find themselves, it would never be any more sacred than the walls of family and friends that surrounded them right then.
WARNING: G R A T I T U D E ALERT!
IF Thanksgiving is all about family gathers and feasts upon feasts that last entire weekends. . .
IF Thanksgiving is all about huge football rivalries that have you sitting on the edge of your chairs…
IF Thanksgiving is all about Pilgrims and Indians re-enactment of cute plays with moral meanings…
IF Thanksgiving is all about Gray Thursdays, Black Friday’s Pewter Saturdays, Cyber Mondays. . .
IF Thanksgiving is all about short vacations and getting out of work and school. . .
IF Thanksgiving is all about fine wine, cocktails, the first of holiday parties. . .
IF Thanksgiving is all about leftovers. . .
THEN IT IS O V E R!
But. . .
IF Thanksgiving is all about Gratitude. . .
Then it hasn’t begun. . .
Then it hasn’t concluded. . .
Then it HAS only C O N T I N U E D!
Pass me a Slice of Sincerity and a Cup of Compassion and let us proceed on the Gratitude Trail picking up others along The Way. . . .