Fwd: thought

I HAVE LIVED MY LIFE SPEAKING "ONE NOTE" - HOLY SPIRIT IS PRESENT, REAL, TRANSFORMING, MAKING ALL THINGS NEW—YOU, ME, EVERYTHING. AND SO IS IT THIS ADVENT/CHRISTMAS 2013. In a world of many negative, destructive, polarizing notes let us speak the One Note…….more than that let us live and function in the One Note: good news comes to us……

Fwd: thought

We call him our "grand cat".He is our granddaughter kitty and we keep him when she is out of town. Baci is his name. He is black with white splashes. Here I am on my 80th birthday thinking about my grand cat. Partly this is true because he stretches out in the middle of my dest so I can't do anything but pay attention to him. Now I am not a animal pet person and we never had a lot of pets when our children were growing up. Although I did have a beautiful white dog that just showed up one day. I was a young teen maybe- anyway he was our pet and he followed behind my daddy wherever he went. Well, this is the way I see it. God made these animals and us humans relate to them in all kinds of ways. I look into the faces of dogs and cats shown on TV where they have been rescued from abusive environments. I can see the pain and sadness in their faces and eyes. They are feeling the pain. Now back to baci. for some reason on this current visit with us he has taken to snuggling down in my lap in the warm blanket and sleeps. I watch him. He is peaceful, he is trusting, he is communicating his love in his way. It is a known fact that persons in nursing homes respond to the attention and affection of small creatures brought in for them to touch and hold. For some people this is about all the affection they get. So at this Christmas time i am mindful that our wonderful Creator has given us innocent, vulnerable animals and we chose our own way of relegating to them according to our need and their need.They call us to be kind and compassionate.  I don't know whether animals were really present at the birth of Jesus, but seems proper that they were there.

Fwd: thought

Subject: thought

One of my duties as pastor was regular visits in the homes of my parishioners. When first moving into a new community I would visit  the members homes for the first time. They did not know me and in those days I did not make appointments ahead of time. I just showed up. Once I introduced myself as the new pastor a smile came across their face and a welcome was extended for me to come in and visit. In todays world I would not dare just show up and knock on the door because I might get shot before any questions were asked. Seems we are a trigger ready and fear driven world. In those earlier days very likely most homes had a weapon but did not go to the door with pistol in hand. Well things change and times are different and I am left wondering if we are better off today than people in earlier days. Regardless it well to be mindful we are in the Advent time of the year in which we anticipate the birth of the baby in the manger. He grew up teaching persons to love one another and do all the good they could to make the world a more peaceful and caring place