Category Archives: Love

Praying for the Nation–The Truth Will Set Us Free

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“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”. John 8:32 CEV

Contrary to much current thought, there is universal truth. Our forefathers knew this when they penned the declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” …

The truth of the words remains, the fact that they were applied by their authors strictly to white men notwithstanding. Nonetheless, truth doesn’t always seem to be very clear-cut. Pilate’s question to Jesus, “What is truth? (John 18:38, CEV), is a question that’s been asked many times throughout the ages. As Christians we at least say we believe that Jesus is truth (John 14:6), but often find ourselves in sharp disagreement regarding anything beyond that point. And yet, that’s an important unifying force.

Though we may not now (or ever) agree on the specifics of what constitutes the truth, perhaps we can agree to pray that Jesus will open our hearts to it, no matter how painful it is, no matter the preciousness of our beliefs that need to be set aside in deference to it. My mom used to say that truth hurts–& she’s right–it often hurts a lot. But just like surgery, which is initially painful but often eventually curative, the application of truth, though at first painful, provides us with freedom, because being imprison by falsehood often causes wasted, and at times lost, lives.

I’m going to meditate this week on the verse that began this post, and I’m going to pray that we as individuals and as a nation will unite in a fervent search for and being open to the truth. I pray you’ll join me, and I pray you’ll ask your friends to do so as well.

MAGA

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For everyone, or just about everyone, this has been a rough year. First, there’s been a global pandemic, the likes of which few have ever seen. Many have experienced severe economic upheaval. Then, there was a contentious election in the US, which, although it’s been called, still may not be over.

Given all that, it’s hard to find gratitude. Yet, there is still a lot to be thankful for, & I want to give a particular call out to a client with whom I’ve recently had the pleasure of working who pointed that out. His name is Rob Prater, and he works with and for the Desert Rose Bahai Institute here in AZ. He suggested that perhaps MAGA should stand for “Make America Grateful Again.” I think he’s right. Thanks, Rob, for the reminder.

You’re Acting Like An Idiot

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To many, the old Testament seems frought with images of blood and guts and war, and a wrathful God who takes vengance on helpless humans at any chance He gets. A lot of folks would therefore be surprised at this single verse penned by an obscure profit in a little-known book of the Bible called Zephaniah. It’s found in chapter 3, v. 17:
“The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

Any of you who have ever held children in your arms and sang over them as you rocked them, rejoicing, know precisely what this verse means. Have you ever thought about the fact that God loves you just exactly like that? Yeah–I know–it’s hard to fathom, but He does.

The Other side of that coin is that he loves others like that as well. And he loves us even when our behavior doesn’t warrant it, because He knows we are separate from our behavior. We might be acting like an idiot, but we ourselves aren’t one. We can change our behavior, but God created us in His image, and that will never change.

Again, that applies to others as well. I’m trying very hard during these extremely stressful times to understand that even when people act like idiots, God nonetheless sings over them just as He sings over me. They’re created in His image just as I am. And just because they (or I) act like idiots doesn’t mean we are one.

I pray we’ll all extend grace and prayers to one another during these extraordinarily frought times.