Searching For Words

What words can you share with those embracing the most painful moment of their lives? Is there any right words to offer? Any precise Bible verse or poem that would erase the pain and the sense of loss when a loved one passes? Many of us try to offer something to give hope, to comfort or to fill in that awkward silence when we come to meet the grieving face to face. It might end up being awkward, or unbeknownst hurtful to those that are deeply missing the one they loved.

I have heard many of these hurtful phrases myself as well as from the grieving, the group of people whom I have found myself recently aiding through their grief as a volunteer grief counselor. What always happens as they share what people have said that hurt them, was their appreciation that at least someone would approach them and offer something. Their deepest hurts came from those who they thought would have come forward to share a word, were surprisingly silent. The silence hurt more, than the awkward phrases.

I find myself here in this place now over the passing of a newborn within our extended family. My head cannot grasp any meaning that I can offer to say or to write to the young couple. In this modern age of AI and medical advancements, how is this possible? But, I stop myself from considering all the possibilities and sensibilities of how and why God has allowed this, to the realization; I just don’t know. And I can be okay with not knowing, and I can be okay with just offering an “I sorry” to the couple. I am grieving and sad, as is the whole extended family, as someone we never met in person as we live apart from the couple, has brought us grief and affected our lives by his very existence. He was and is created in the image of God, the Imago Dei. He took a breath and met his mom and dad, grandparents, brother, and his cousin, all who were able to hold him and see him as a reflection of both his parents. His life was brief, but he was loved, named and precious as all babies are, yet his life was too short.

So much happens in this life, both good, and bad, joyful and sad, that are lives seem to be a continuous rollercoaster ride of emotions. There is also so much we do not and will not understand this side of Heaven. When we try to make sense of all this, we can find it impossible to find peace, but only when we surrender our needing to know and replacing it with not knowing, we find the peace we look for. When we simply trust God, we can find peace. Trust isn’t always easy, especially when are hearts are breaking and our minds are reeling, but simply speaking out loud to God and telling Him “I don’t understand this, my heart is breaking, but yet I will trust you”

A verse comes to mind from the Gospel of Mark, from a distraught father who asked Jesus to heal his son and Jesus told him everything was possible if you believe. The father’s response “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief” (Mark 9:24 NIV). There are many times when I need to repeat this, I Do belief Jesus, but help my unbelief. He gets it. He understands. He wept over His friend Lazarus’ death. He wept over the city of Jerusalem. He became one of us and felt the pain we feel. We can trust Him with our pain and our grief, even when there are no words. He knows our pain and offers comfort beyond any words we can offer to others, or receive from others. He is the peace we seek. God Bless- Nancy

Breaking the Silence

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed- John, John 3:19-20.

I titled this blog as breaking the silence, but wanted to consider also a subtitle: light in the darkness. I realized just how long of a pause there has been between my posts and I owe my faithful subscribers an apology as I have been stuck in processing my thoughts and overwhelmed with anxiety. Yes, Christians can have full blown anxiety, and get the feeling of being overwhelmed even as we trust God in all things. The spiritual battlefield is most often in the mind and sometimes it seems like the wrong side is winning, attacking believers with fear.

It is probably obvious to many of you that my country ( the US) is facing many struggles with the new administration. It may appear to be (and is in some ways) divided with some supporting what is being termed as “MAGA Christians” and their representations in leadership with those who oppose and protest against the actions of the leadership. It is not a position that I would ever have dreamed would happen as the country was founded by immigrants who left their home countries to leave behind religious tyranny and find opportunities to live and worship as they pleased while upholding the teaching from the Bible. My relatives among these groups to leave their homelands for religious freedom.

The history of this country has been checkered and not without sinning against the teachings found in the Bible, but overall, over the years solid individuals and groups put forth laws that sought to give freedoms to individuals and by doing so reflected the teachings of Christ , the two main commandments to love God and love neighbor as found in the Gospels.

But now, I have recently found out that many who claim to take back America, have no intention on upholding the teachings of Jesus. They claim to forward and promote Christian values, but in fact never really share the teachings of the Bible, but misquote and twist the Bible to suit their own agendas of hate, division, crime, abuse and evil. These individuals do not reflect Christians, only a form of false Christianity.

To be honest, I don’t really like talking about politics, but as I have heard from other leaders from solid Christian ministries speaking out and mentioning this division of Christians within the United States, I couldn’t remain silent. Sowing seeds of hate, racism, greed, indifference to the poor, oppressed, the immigrant, and the female leaders, while fueling their own bank accounts and using bribery to effect the outcomes of foreign elections has no place and is incongruent with Jesus. These Christians have “A form of godliness”, but their hearts are far from God, and they are in denial of the power (The Holy Spirit) and do not produce fruit in agreement with the Spirit.

If you are feeling this same sense of anxiousness about the current state of Christianity in the United States, know you are not alone. We cannot stand by and allow ourselves to go with the flow. To be sure, I believe God is in control and there’s no need to allow ourselves to fear, but as I heard from another Christian recently, what we need to focus on now is reading the Bible to know it fully so that we will not be deceived as some have been by their failures to realize the misquotes of the Bible and not be flattered by the sound bite comments that attempt to appease the Christian voting base. Many of the financial support for these groups has come from false preachers who have grown massive followers and amassed huge amounts of money that they give to the MAGA efforts. Believers have been used by these politicians by claiming they promote the Bible and Christian values when they do not, to gain their rise to power.

Now is the time for Christians to shine the light of Christ brighter, share the Gospel, disciple others, teach from the Bible, refuse to honor mere men as idols and worship God only, trust God, not in money and wealth, help others who are all created in the image of God. As the verse above mentions light exposes the darkness, “But whoever lives by the truth, comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God” Jn. 3:21. And also, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it” Jn. 1:4. Keep shining the light of Christ against the darkness that masks as angels of light, and show the world who Jesus really is. -God Bless, Nancy

For The Birds

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid: you are worth more than the sparrows”- Jesus. Luke 12:6-7.

When I was younger, I never really gave much thought to birds. My Mom did though, and my Aunt Betty. Both were avid bird watchers and bird feeders. Every day my mom would watch the feeder planted in the ground outside the kitchen window to study and make note of the birds eating from the feeder. She could name most all of them. My Aunt Betty was the same. They even had photo reference guide books, if a new strange and unknown bird should land on the perch. But in the past few years my view of birds has changed.

I remember the first time I heard someone mention the visits they had from cardinals after a loved one passed. It was on a television program and I kinda just waived it off as some sort of old wives tales, or in contemporary terms, an urban legend. There was something seemingly so unspiritual for this Baptist grounded woman to accept any messages from dead people in the form of a red cardinal.

When my mom died, I started to see hummingbirds whenever I visited my parents home, at precise moments- the moments when I was finding myself overcome with grief. I began to see that maybe there was the potential for birds to be sort of messengers from God. My mom loved her birds, but especially hummingbirds. It brought me comfort at the time and so I put it in the back of my mind to ponder.

That is until this past year, when a pesky little male cardinal-the red ones- has been appearing everywhere. This past year my dad died and also my husband and I moved to a new house in a new neighborhood. At our old house we had beautiful hedges that the birds liked to build their nests in and hide. Over the time we lived there I would see a few cardinals, but never daily, just once in a while. But when we moved, we lost the hedges and moved into a new housing development, which means no grown trees and shrubs.

But since our move, a little cardinal came out of no where and would sit outside my window and sing his little birdy wakeup song at daylight- every morning. But as I began to think about how this bird appeared shortly after my dad passed, I began to wonder if the story of cardinals visiting after loved ones have passed could have some truth to it.

And then this cardinal started showing up everywhere I travelled. At our daughter’s home, right outside the guest room window, in traveling on the highways, and I think even on a trip to France. There have been pairs of cardinals (male and female) who fly across my windshield right in front of me, so as to not let me miss this greeting. Maybe I’m just noticing more, or maybe there is truth in this legend.

Last week was a particularly difficult week and I found myself faced with many decisions to make- and honestly, I’m not so great at deciding. I was watching a video from the university I attend as part of my online curriculum from my desk. My window blinds were raised so I could catch the view of our garden out the window as I worked on my homework for the course. As the video was ending, I felt at peace with the decision I was struggling to make, when I caught something just outside the window in the corner of my eye. A pair of hummingbirds was pausing mid-flight to stop, and stare at me sitting at my desk, doing my homework. Wow! It left me speechless.

As I have been thinking about whether or not this is from God, I considered just how many examples from the Bible mention birds, included the one I have shared above. The conclusion I’ve drawn is that yes, God can and does use birds to deliver messages of hope. As Jesus is mentioning above, God knows each sparrow, they are not random, and since He knows the smallest little details, including the number of hairs on your head, He will take care of you.

If you think for a moment about other times birds are mentioned- the dove who brought back the olive branch for Noah after the flood, the Holy Spirit mentioned as like a dove, coming down from Heaven at Jesus’ baptism by John, as well as Jesus’ using birds for His teachings, it is not unreasonable to think that God could send little winged messengers to us. And I don’t mean angels. Just little birds to remind us, that we are going to be okay. Birds are not overlooked by God, and it is as if the birds are trying to remind us that they know God looks after them so we should trust God with all our stuff too- our finances, our struggles, our lives, our relationships, our decisions.

This has just been a thought for today, and I’d like to hear your feedback. Do you think God uses birds to teach us? God Bless, Nancy

How to Save A life

I have never thought of myself as any kind of life saver. Not in any philosophical term, I’m a mom so I have saved my kids lives many times over, the forgotten book, homework assignment, sports uniform, cleats, you get the idea. But I mean REALLY literally saving a human life by intervening. I highly respect those who have answered the call to be an EMT or firefighters or police officers, or emergency room personnel. But I was recently told that I had saved the life of another person through my calling and gift; writing. If you are new to this site and aren’t aware I wrote and published a book last year (2024) about my mom and how her loss affected me deeply. It also is about how the medical community unfairly treats the medically vulnerable, those that cannot speak for themselves. If you are interested in reading my story, the book can be found at Amazon, as well as Barnes and Noble, and Walmart, Target and other online book sites. Look for Undone: Letting Go of Perfection, What Grief Taught Me About Faith by Nancy Jalbert.

It has slowly been gaining traction and readers through a grass roots effort as I do not commercially market the book. One of the readers, a co-worker of my husband read the book and has now purchased and passed books on for others to read because she witnessed for herself a similar incident with two elderly relatives. It is because of her story that I share this blog. I believe it can make the difference in many more lives and might even save a life as it did for her family.

She had been given the book by my husband to read because she had an older relative that was sick and it had been recommended that the family commit the relative to a hospice center, but she was feeling unsure. Once she had the book she realized that hospice was not going to be the right decision for the relative and said she would pass the book onto other family members who could learn for themselves the sometimes horrific and painful truth of for- profit medicine in the United States.

That sounds pretty good, but wait a minute until I share the REST of the story. A few months later she related that my book had saved her grandfather’s life. Her grandfather has taken ill suddenly and wasn’t quite himself, and the medical professionals were believing he was suffering from dementia or some other terminal illness while he was in the hospital. The man’s son(her father) questioned the medical team and their recommendation that the gentleman be moved to a hospice center to die. He pulled his father from the hospital and went to another medical facility to be checked out and what’s crazy is it was a completely different prognosis. The elderly gentleman, the grandfather of my husband’s co- worker had a UTI or Urinary Tract Infection. In elderly folks the effects are often cognitive, rather than physical as with younger patients.

So when my husband called from work one day he was excited to share that I had saved a life! His co-worker after reading my book, was well prepared in advance as to what was about to happen after a patient is recommended for palliative or hospice care. ( I realize there are still some hospice related services that are legit, but since it was deregulated in the United States there is a shocking increase as well as reduction in time for patients to spend in hospice) The longer the patient requires hospitalization or hospice care the cost to the insurance companies and medicare/ medicaid increases, so there is a push and a specific terminology used in the cases to provide a smokescreen for what is really happening. Families are blindsided as I was with my mom, who entered the hospital with a fractured hip and was told we needed to put her into a palliative care protocol, rather than operate to repair her hip. We didn’t know what was happening to her but were given a scripted protocol that attempted to explain it to us in a way that made it seem like the right thing to do. Sadly, by the time we figured out what was happening to my mom it was too late. I was shocked, angry and hurt and my story describes the struggle I had going through this experience.

But, as I see it now, God did have a reason for my trial and pain, to help others who are either going through it, or hopefully to bring awareness to this tragedy happening daily in hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living centers and hospice centers. Remember, when you have a hard story to tell, share it, you just might save someone else’s life or help them through their difficult time or maybe prevent it. We need to share our stories and ourselves. Jesus commanded that we should observe two greatest commandments to love God and love our neighbor. Who is your neighbor? Who can you demonstrate the love of God toward? Maybe it will be to share your story, maybe it will save the life of your neighbor. God Bless- Nancy

Missed Connection

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart- Jeremiah 29:13

Have you ever missed a connection because your flight was delayed? I think this is one of my biggest fears when traveling. You see I am a careful planner. I think and rethink everything. From packing to schedules to airport maps to seats, to connection times.

Recently my husband and I traveled to France and despite all my careful planning- we had flight delays. Thankfully they didn’t make us miss any connecting flights, but it was a bit unnerving when we arrived at our home airport and immediately faced a delay and an oversold flight. So, despite my best efforts in planning the trip and buying the tickets, most of my trip was out of my control. As we waited for the plane to arrive to our gate and the announcements were being made offering up to $900 to voluntarily give up the oversold seats, I wondered what would happen if no one gave up their seat? Who would get bumped? Us? But this was my long awaited trip to Paris! What if I missed my connection to fly to France?

Thankfully someone must have volunteered to leave on a later flight, for after a few hours waiting, we were boarded and spent an amazing time in France. Until it happened again on the return trip. Our flight was delayed by four hours and the communication was a bit delayed so that we received information on the delay after we arrived at the airport and it forced us to spend several hours playing a cat and mouse game looking for the correct gate and time of flight departure. And then we experienced the no announcements of the boarding beginning. I’m not sure if this is typical for European airports, but I have gotten accustomed to the constant announcements in US airports telling everyone of any updates, and most importantly, when boarding has started and which group should line up for boarding. If we hadn’t been paying attention we would have been waiting at the wrong gate and no one announced when the boarding had started. Once again , I wondered if some people would miss their flight and miss their connections.

We had to seek our flight and gate and boarding time our selves, much in the way that individuals seek God. God initiates this pursuit, but never forces the individual to comply. As the verse above written by the Prophet Jeremiah mentions, we are called to seek God with all our heart. God nudges us but we must be the one to ask questions, seeking Him and finding Him when we are diligent. He isn’t hiding, but He wants us to call out to Him.

I thought about this topic this week after overhearing a conversation between two people looking for a church to attend. And I realized it wasn’t that they weren’t finding any churches it was that they weren’t finding a place of connection with God. The churches they had visited seemed to all have a similar problem- they felt out of place with others in church and with the services, music, messages and pastors. They agreed that the churches seemed out of touch with people and remaind very dogmatic and ritualistic. And as I thought about it, I realized what they were seeking was a connection, and as I mentioned with both God and other believers. But, these churches had failed in providing a place for connection.

Much like my over sold and delayed flight as well as my flight with the lack of communication on how to board and what gate, these churches were overselling their product while forgetting to communicate the Gospel. They had the buildings- the plane- the pilot- the pastor- but the plane was outdated, not maintained, and the pilot not skilled and up to date with newer systems. Imagine if you will showing up to a flight only to find an old bi-plane at the gate, instead of a Boeing or Airbus jet.

Also, imagine a ritualistic service that followed procedures, but failed to tell its passengers that they were about to board the plane and take off, leaving many behind at the airport.

So, as it is up to the individual to seek connection with God in a relationship with Him through Jesus, apart from all the external trappings of musical styles, teaching styles, church buildings, my challenge this week is for the churches themselves. Are you providing a space to find God?Are you promoting seeking God with all your heart and are you communicating the Gospel- telling everyone how to be saved and enter a connected relationship with God. Or are you part of the missed connections? -God Bless, Nancy

More

We live in a world that feels like there is always something ‘more’ to be acquired. Something more to be bought. Something more to be done. Some might call it greed at first glance, claiming that we are never satisfied with what we currently have and are always desiring what someone else has that we don’t yet have.

Some blame social media and how easy it is to fall into the comparison trap. Some might say we are all a sinful, greedy, and jealous people who need to rid ourselves of such self- centered sin. The spiritual side might reveal the obvious that we have the God- shaped space within us that can only be satisfied with a personal relationship with God to bring us the ultimate satisfaction and deliverance from the pursuit of more.

While I agree with all of the above to one degree or another, let me pose a different perspective. One that has struck me since the passing of my father last year. What if just maybe, God has designed us with this “more” factor; this hard wired in our personalities, or spirit’s to desire “more”. What if we have been given this innate sense that there IS more to this life than this moment and place in time.

It makes sense to me when I think of the delicate and intricate patterns within the physical design of our bodies. The complexity and functionality of the cell, multiplied many times over with slight variations according to a cell’s purpose. Our bodies work like well- oiled machines and mini factories if you will. I am convinced this complex and wonderful design is not by chance or evolution. Several examples of these cellular factories demonstrate an interdependence upon being formed at the exact same moment, otherwise one part would cease to exist, preventing the proper function of another part. They simply had to be created at the same moment, and not by evolution.

Given this wonder and miracle of human design and mankind’s ability to reason, communicate and have self- awareness, our lives surely are worth more than a compact 70 years (if we are fortunate) and then a complete and total obliteration into the nothingness of the cosmos. We are made for more, not less than our design value.

I have seen the great cathedrals and castles of Europe and the great houses and monuments here in the United States and they have long outlived their builders, but even with the great works of architecture, there was a builder and designer.

Mankind is given a gift to design and build and imitate our Creator, but we are also created in His image and created for not just this limited life, but an after life, an eternal life.

This is what I believe we are looking for and sensing, that there is more. There is a sense of right and wrong (a moral law) that is also given to us by our Creator. We have very similar senses of right and wrong regardless of cultures. There are cultural differences, please don’t get me wrong, but as philosophers like to term it, “gratuitous evil” is not acceptable in the majority of worldviews. Where does this come from? It is not left over from a survival view, since the survival of the fittest, tends to eliminate the weakest first, but actually cannot be demonstrated. Evolution is a theory, not a proven fact.

So what if we are designed for more? Preprogrammed to hold fast to the notion that this life is not all there is. That for a loved one to be separated from us through death, feels wrong, because it IS wrong. If we are designed in the image of God, than doesn’t it stand to reason that we can be eternal as well, that there is more to us than the physical shell that holds within it a body, but also a spiritual and mental capacity dimension that is held within yet not anchored with the physical body? When we die our spirit and soul lives on as our physical form dies.

So, is this desire for more come from a place of wanting the wrongs of this world made right, for justice to be served and recompense given? For a reuniting with our passed loved ones? Is this why we grieve? Is this why we pursue acting well as a responsible person? Do we deep down know there is more to come than our current state? I believe there is. Just something to ponder for today. God Bless, Nancy

Who Is My Neighbor?

Yesterday I had the task of moving a bookshelf between rooms in my house. It’s not difficult to move the furniture itself, but with all the books its a longer process since I had to empty the shelves, move the bookcase and then move the books in from another room and onto the shelves.

In the process I found or should I say rediscovered a book from my days in undergrad that sparked today’s blog. 2 The Heart of Love: Obeying God’s Two Greatest Commandments” by Ted Rivera. If you’re not familiar with the two greatest commandments; it refers to Jesus’ take on the Law and Ten Commandments, that are summed up into 1.Love God and 2.Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Sounds very straightforward? Right? Well, over several years I have heard various sermons highlight parts of the commandments. Some focus on what it means to love God, what love really looks like, and how we can love others once we love and accept ourselves. While all these are great areas to focus on, I’d rather focus on the question posed by the expert of the law found in the Gospel account of Luke.

This expert of the law, the Jewish Law to be clear, had approached Jesus and asked Him if there was anything else he should be doing. That is to be a better person, or maybe to get closer to God, or have Jesus put a good word in for him. Or maybe to impress others that he had done everything so perfect, according to the Law, or most likely, according to his own interpretation of the Law.

I get that, and to be honest have tried that before myself. We have this tendency to see ourselves as better than others when it comes to being a good person. We run through a little checklist in our minds and pride ourselves on all our good points we add up in our self-evaluation by our own standards. Yes, we tell ourselves they are God’s standards and we are pretty good at following them, but honestly we pick and choose the standards we want to use to evaluate ourselves. We interpret the law as we decide it should be interpreted. That’s what this guy in Luke’s account was doing. And Jesus called him out on it by looking at the intent and the heart of the law to love others.

As Luke 10 tells us “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus answered “What is written in the Law, how do you read it?” the man answered “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and, love your neighbor as yourself ” “You have answered correctly. Do this and live.” “BUT, he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, and who is my neighbor?” (NIV, Lk. 10 :25-29).

In Jesus’ style of answering a question, he teaches with the use of a story, or parable that in turn poses the question back to the original questioner. And in this we have what’s called the parable of the Good Samaritan, who becomes the hero of the story in helping the beaten traveler. Jesus explains the three who came upon the poor traveler who had been beaten, robbed, stripped of his clothes and left by the roadside. The first two to pass by the injured man were both religious leaders, who presumably followed the Law, but each could not be bothered given their busyness, indifference, and there attitude that is was best if that actually crossed to the opposite side of the road. I think that maybe they could pretend they didn’t see him, or whatever, and they could justify themselves for not stopping to help. But it was, in fact, the Samaritan who stopped and helped the fallen man. He bandaged the wounds, and helped the man get to a safe place to heal, even leaving money for the injured man’s bills, “Look after him he said, and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have” (Lk. 10:35).

We can learn so much from this parable. First all three men traveling could have stopped to help. We aren’t told the ethnicity of the injured man, but it is implied he was probably Jewish as were the priest and Levite who refused to help. We do know the Samaritan was not what at the time was considered a righteous Jewish person, but somewhat of a foreigner to Jews who generally would not even speak to a Samaritan.

Jesus asks the expert of Law who he thought was a neighbor to the fallen man? Which of the three? The man answers “The one who showed mercy on him” And Jesus relied, “Go and do likewise” (Lk. 10:36-37).

So maybe what Jesus was asking was not who the man thought was his neighbor, but rather was the man acting as a neighbor to others? Did he understand his neighbor was whomever he encountered? And it was his responsibility to love his neighbor as a neighbor by showing mercy. It wasn’t about who lived next to him, but whoever he was next to.

We tend to define neighbors as those with whom we share an address or zip code with us, but in Jesus’ parable all were traveling. They were not in their home town or neighborhood. The Samaritan was definitely not from the neighborhood, but yet he was the only one who stopped, cared for the man, getting his hands dirty, probably using his own shirt to bandage the wounds, I mean think about it, there weren’t any first aid kits, or prepackaged bandaids. He had money for his trip, but used some to cover the cost for a night at an inn, and left money for the bill for as long as he needed for recovery from his injuries. He even planned on returning to pay the accrued bills, but maybe also to see the man as well. It was not in his plans as he left his own neighborhood that morning. But he provided an example that we still can follow and gave the expert of the law something to think on. How to really love your neighbor by being a neighbor and showing mercy toward a fellow human being.

Be that neighbor who loves his fellow neighbor wherever they are from and wherever they reside. Let us show mercy as we have received mercy from God. God Bless- Nancy

The Least of These

The King will reply, ” I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” Matthew 25:40, NIV.

Recently, my husband and I had the opportunity to view a new film on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. If you get the chance to see it as well, I highly recommend it. It is very thought -provoking as it presents Christians with a dilemma whether to quietly abide by rules imposed by a manmade government or follow and stand up for biblical principles, at the risk of arrest and death.

The question also raised is whether it is right to take a life if it is done to save the lives of others. Bonhoeffer wrestles with this decision, but ultimately joins a group of both clergy and citizens opposed to the government of the Nazis that attempts to assasinate Adolf Hitler.

This poses a very ethical and moral question as to the responsibility of Christians to stand against a government that is harming others, and even to consider stopping the harm by whatever means. This is of course is an option that Bonhoeffer willingly follows, but when the attempt on Hitler failed, Bonhoeffer and other pastors were arrested and Bonhoeffer was executed by hanging, days after the Second World War officially ended. It is a sad story, but we have to find hope in the actions of Bonhoeffer and other pastors who brought to light to churches in the United States and England what was happening inside Germany and for their bravery in rescuing many Jews and bringing them to safety. Bonhoeffer writings are still available and we are privileged to be able to read them and learn of the tragic events of Nazi Germany.

Can such history repeat itself? I believe so, as the heart of man is above all else sinful and bent upon satisfying its selfish desires. My question is when this next event happens, will the clergy and members of the church stand with the weak? Generally speaking the bullies of the world tend to pick on those weaker than themselves. This bullying the weak, makes them feel strong and powerful and capable of anything and ruler over everyone with a constant hunger for more and more to gain and rule over.

When we look at the verse above out of Matthew’s gospel, we understand it as a parable taught by Jesus about Himself. He will inherit the Kingdom from God, and will separate the sheep from the goats. The goats are those who basically ignored other people and failed to offer help, in this case, food, water and shelter (verses 31-46). Jesus refers to even the righteous as belonging to this group of goats, implying the religious leaders of His day. These religious leaders will ask, when did we see YOU Lord as thirsty, hungry or needing to be welcomed as a stranger? His reply was that if they saw people fitting this description and failed to help, then it was if they failed to help Him. The fate of these goats? Well read verse 46.

I think the above parable from Matthew is fitting to read and ponder, on whether we could consider ourselves as a sheep or a goat. What would we do if we were faced with a similar situation as Bonhoeffer. Stand by quietly while innocents are rounded up, arrested and killed, or recognize all men as created in the image of God? Would be quietly agree with this happening by not voicing an opinion, making us complicit of the violence? Would we be willing to risk our job, home, family and even our lives to be against such actions?

Sadly, I am beginning to see an attitude of hatred, and bigotry in my own country that takes me afraid. And I am not the only one who thinks this way. Pastors are beginning to take notice and speak against bully attitudes and I applaud them for this bravery. Churches should be places of safety where everyone can come hear the saving message of the Gospel. Churches should be teaching biblical principles and following them themselves to give the thirsty drink, and to the hungry food, and to the stranger, a welcome and a place to stay. This is what Jesus taught and wanted us to follow. We were once enemies of God and yet God sent Jesus to die for our sins, while we were still sinners, not before we got ourselves all cleaned up. Luke’s Gospel tells us that Jesus forgives those who call out to Him and recognize He is their savior even when they are criminals (Luke 23:43) May we also have a heart like Jesus.God Bless-Nancy

You Are Loved

So, I’m probably going to date myself with this question, but here goes. Do you remember hearing about people who left their homes and jobs to go “find” themselves? I’m not really sure when this phrase appeared, but I just remember hearing it. There was a sense that these people were burned out with the 9-5 work or school, or whatever and needed to take a break in order to explore the real meaning to their life.

I think it has always been around to some degree or another. People wonder if there is more to this life than being born, living, working and then dying. They ask questions like why an I here? And what is my life about? Some might call this search finding philosophy or exploring spirituality or considering one’s existential reality.

From a Christian perspective, it is searching for God, but in a theological understanding it is realizing that God has been calling and initiating the search rather than the other way around. It’s pretty clear from the Bible, that God initiates the relationship with His creation. Genesis records the creation of the universe and all that is in it, including this little marble- sized planet we call home (so, I know its bigger than a marble, just thinking in relation to the other planets, we’re pretty small). Anyway, God created mankind, which if you are reading this, and unless you are AI, you are a member of mankind. This amazing pinnacle of God’s creation. We have intellect, communications, rationality, morality, and we use all these traits to communicate, rationalize, moralize and think with others and we are also in this unique way, able to communicate with God, our creator. He designed us this way. We are not on the same level as the animals, or birds, or reptiles, or insects, or fish. We are commanded and given the job to have dominion over these humble creatures. Before, you suggest that means we can do whatever we please, the word dominion as it was understood from the original language of the Bible means mankind acts as a protector of the animals, or caretaker if you will.

But I am just pointing this out so you can begin to understand how we are made and who we are. We are not merely another form of animal, we have much greater traits and attributes and are given a very important role in this world. This might sound vaguely familiar to you if you grew up understanding the belief in God as creator. For those of you who read this and do not have a Christian background this might be the first time you’ve heard this explanation of how mankind was created and how we differ from other mammals.

What does this mean for us, for me and for you? First of all it’s a place to begin to understand who you really are. Everything and everyone around us tries to tell us who we are and define us, yet, if you remember my previous blog (Factory Reset) I mentioned that what we need in the New Year is to get back to basics, back to the Bible. So, my challenge for this week, is to understand who you are, not according to what job you hold, your social or economic status, your marital status or even what church you attend or don’t attend, but to understand who God says you are.

And the first item I want you to consider in defining yourself is that YOU are loved. No matter where, when and to whom you were born to, whether you were adopted or forgotten, YOU were loved. God created YOU. For a reason, God is love and He decided to create mankind in His image. He didn’t need to, for He was complete and lacking nothing, yet He decided the earth needed you. Pretty cool, huh? Just remember that who you are is this You are loved. -God Bless, Nancy

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him -Jn 3:16-17, NIV.

Factory Reset

It’s that time of year again. A time for resolutions and the focus on self- improvement. At the start of the new year it seems like everyone is trying to make up their New Year’s resolutions and the promise to themselves that somehow this year will be different than the last year. We promise ourselves that we will exercise more, budget our money better, learn a new skill, take that trip, and improve- whatever that might look like to us.

We start the year off strong, keeping those new promises, going to the gym, saving our money instead of wildly spending it, signing up for classes and beginning planing our trips by doing research online. But, slowly as January marches into February and February turns into March, our resolves to keep these promises tanks.

So, maybe this year we need to approach this differently. Not try to improve ourselves, not try so hard to change who we are, but give ourselves some grace. Change can be good, don’t get me wrong. And trying to be a better person; kinder, more generous, more patient is a good goal. The problem is this will not happen overnight or in a few months or weeks. Maybe the change isn’t manifested by trying to do or act in a new way, but returning to what we used to do, before life seemed to get out of control. I mean if we are honest, that’s usually why we want to change, or make these resolutions at the start of the new year, because we see our lives and ourselves as out of control, our control. And to be truthful, everything is beyond our control. There is very little that we can control in this life. And that feeling of being not in control is frightening. And our resolutions become a way to gain back what control we believe we should have.

Honestly, we are in control of what we eat and how we choose to exercise or not exercise, that is in our control, but those stressors that bring about our bad habits of eating and laziness(the not exercising part) are not. It’s just how we respond to the stressors that is in our control.

I was reminded this week as I began searching for a bucket list trip for this new year, the importance of not doing something new, making unrealistic changes, but just how much I needed a reset. To get back to the basics, before life got so stressful and I began to believe it was all out of control and I needed to get it into control.

As I began my trip search I noticed that every time I selected a hotel from the list of possibilities and than went back to the search list, the filters I had selected to narrow the list down a bit, was removed, so I had to keep reseting them. This has been a bit annoying to be sure. It has made the process unnecessarily long. But it has prompted me to look back and realize perhaps instead of so much self- improvement goals I needed a reset myself. I have my own filters of what I will do and won’t do in my list of improvement goals, I decided that yes, I want to shed a few post- holiday pounds, yes I want to budget better, and yes and want to fulfill all the promises made in the previous year, but I will filter out from the list other items. The difficult ones, the ones that focus on others, I just want to focus on me this year. I didn’t want a reset on God’s terms, just my own, with applying my own filters.

That is until I was rereading the Gospel of Luke this morning, not the whole thing, just a small passage, when I realized that in my goals and resolutions I had been overlooking the basics. I had been focusing on my self and not on others. In doing so, I was setting up this year to be a self- centered one. Not a giving of myself to others, not forgiving and walking the extra mile, not giving without expecting anything in return, not the loving and praying for my enemies. The basics of what Jesus’ taught. The selfless view of treating others, that replaced the self-fish view of life, the view that tries to be the best person by focusing on self. I felt convicted yet hopeful as I read the passage.

The New year isn’t about doing something new in order to make life better, it was the need to return to what God had designed for me, for us, the kind of life and behavior that God intended. To love God and love others. We were designed for a relationship with our creator and each other. It’s the factory setting. Now it’s time to reset my factory setting. God Bless- Nancy