Planning a New Hope

  “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, With all of your soul and with all of your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. ‘And the second is like it. ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22: 36-40 (NIV)   What I Learned from My Golden Retriever, Tracker               Recently a friend and I were talking, and decided that being acknowledged, or accepted, is a universal need. The conversation reminded me of a couple of incidents with my housemate years ago, Tracker, a 95-lb. Golden Retriever.             Daily my next-door neighbor and I would sit out in the back while I threw the ball for Tracker and her little girl, Tracker’s age, would play. One day we turned all of our attention to the child as she and Tracker stood in front of our chairs. Sudd...

  Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow. James 1:17 (New American Standard Bible)   The Imperfect Gift Became Perfect In the 90’s when my mother downsized and moved into an apartment in a retirement home, she gave my sister and me a number of her treasured possessions. One of the items passed on to me was a cut glass sugar and creamer set. At that time cut glass was revered and I would use the set with pride when serving coffee or tea to visitors. One day the sugar bowl caught my eye. Upon examining it, I realized that while the creamer was indeed cut glass, the sugar bowl was pressed glass, two differently made pieces and of two different patterns.             When questioned about this discrepancy, my mother told the following story. “The woman who gave me the creamer and sugar, was from a we...

  You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.   1 John 4:4 (The New American Standard Bible)   A New Beginning             I can feel it in the air—fall is a commin’-- a season for renewal, and hope for a better life. And yet, many are experiencing unwanted new beginnings because of the COVID. The unfamiliar is unsettling. In the following story, Jack tells his experience of standing on the precipice with a young man wanting to resist moving forward. All names have been changed.             In my work with a group of people with alcoholism, I struck up a bond with a young man I’ll call Till. He talked a lot about that fact that since being a teenager he’d been in trouble with the law. Finally, a judge realized Till’s problem was the illness of alcoholism and sent him to this st...

  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant,   and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, King James Version   For Everything, There Is a Season               In Kathy’s story the names have been changed.             Ex...

  Do no fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (New American Standard Bible)     Get Ready             A little over a week ago, many watched as Hurricane Laura hurled its life-defying winds at us while we waited with bated breathes anticipating the place of its landfall. Preparing and facing life’s storms can be daunting. Do you strain an already stressed out budget by investing in something that might not happen? Do we just depend on God and His mercy? Do we sit back with the attitude of What can I do ? What’s going to happen is going to happen.             I can only imagine the young woman hoped against hope that the counselor would say she was worrying too much. Instead the mother of sev...

  Do no fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (New American Standard Bible)     Storms             A little over a week ago, many watched as Hurricane Laura hurled its life-defying winds at us while we waited with bated breathes anticipating the place of its landfall. Preparing and facing life’s storms can be daunting. Do you strain an already stressed out budget by investing in something that might not happen? Do we just depend on God and His mercy? Do we sit back with the attitude of What can I do ? What’s going to happen is going to happen.             I can only imagine the young woman hoped against hope that the counselor would say she was worrying too much. Instead the mother of severa...