To laugh often and much; to win the respect of wise people and the affection of children…to leave the world a better place…to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
As winter begins to set in, the snow falls then disappears, the wind blows then stops, it is cold and then hot. All this helps to see that our lives are brief candles. A change is a-coming one way or another.
There is so much potential and possibility around each of us as God provides what we need. The measure of “success” that is created by you and affirmed by the God of your understanding hopefully compels you to plan, to consider and to behave in ways that serve God and humanity. We can each hope that our lives have positive impacts on those around us.
This Sunday’s scripture is taken from Psalm 62 and the book of Jonah, chapter 3. Read the very short book to get the whole story. If you identify with Jonah, are you willing or open to having your “isms”, attitudes, and assumptions about people, situations, and desired outcomes changed? If you identify with the people of Nineveh and have ever oppressed or objectified or fallen short of the mark, would you like to receive a message of hope and an action plan to help you change course or repent (sackcloth and all)? If you identify with the One who was wronged, would you be willing to change from a destructive course of action because of your own compassionate character (informed by the heartfelt and active contrition of the ones responsible for the wrongdoing)? The lenses of your own personal contexts will determine the truths you receive from these scriptures.
Proverbs 18: 21 says, “Words kill, words give life, they are either poison or fruit-you choose.” Join us on Sunday to receive words of life, songs of life, and messages of life, love and peace.
Peace,
Rev. Cathy
