There Is Jesus!

   Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
   She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher).
                                                                                                                John 20:16 NIV

   Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
   Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
                                                                                                               John 20:28-29 NIV

Yesterday, a memorial service was held for a dear friend of mine. Years ago, she and I studied books together at the local swimming pool. We prayed a bit. We studied a bit. We swam a bit. We had lunch together afterwards.

One of the books we read together was "Practicing the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence. There was nothing that Brother Lawrence would have preferred to do than to be in the presence of God and so his life was lived as though he were.

After Jesus' resurrection, Mary and Thomas both had those "aha" moments when they recognized that they were in his presence. Mary, full of sorrow at the tomb and who shows up? There is Jesus. He is standing there. He is alive!

Thomas was quite sure Jesus was dead and not coming back. But, there he is in a locked room with his fellow disciples of Jesus and who shows up? There he is! There is Jesus standing among them. He is alive!

Jesus lives! As each year passes I spend more time in the Word and more time practicing the presence of God, talking and listening and walking with God, this God whom I cannot see as Mary or Thomas saw. After all; is there anyone more pleasant and comforting to be with than Jesus? As each year passes the more often I am able to experience those "aha" moments when I feel the real presence of God with me. Something will happen and I think: there he is still working among us. That has to be Jesus! Here he is! He lives! 

We cannot see him as Mary or Thomas saw him; but, we can and do live in his presence even today as we look to the day when we will see him face to face. We will seem him with our own eyes. 

May You always be cognizant of God's presence no matter where you are or what you are doing.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Bless The Work of Our Hands

"In all toil there is profit,

    but mere talk leads only to poverty."

Proverbs 14:23

"Are you a Finn?" That was a strange question to be asked by a supervisor. But, that is exactly what I was asked when I worked on a production line in a sewing factory many years ago. I had laughed and asked him how he could know that as I was living in North Carolina where there were very few people of Finnish descent. I only knew one other person in the factory that was. He said he guessed that because of my work ethic. At the time, the company I worked for was laying me off and paying me unemployment one or two days every week because the particular station I worked at would run out of work by Wednesday or Thursday. In the history of the factory no one had ever even made production at my station until that time.

I am still not sure how he would guess my ethnicity as I know a lot of people today of this same ethnic background who do not like to work and who will go out of their way to avoid it. I do not believe that ethnicity has much to do with our particular work ethics. Our work ethics are not necessarily dictated by our gene pool; but, has more to do with our environment.

I was taught at an early age that in order to live; in order to eat; in order to have shelter and heat, we must work. We must take care of responsibilities. We probably spend around one third of our lives working so we may as well do it well. We may as well throw ourselves into it and enjoy it.

Raising our sons, I would often make games out of household chores. We would work together so that the chores we had to complete would be more enjoyable for all. I tried to teach them that we should enjoy the work that we do since at least one third of our lives will consist of working at some job. And... even if we don't enjoy the work, we must try because we do have to eat.

There is profit in our toil. Sometimes, it is merely to survive and to survive well. At other times it is so that we can share fruitful time with others.

Whatever we do, let us do it well that the work of our hands might glorify our Father in heaven.

God's Peace - Pr. J

The Hand Of The Lord

Bond Falls, Paulding, MI

I will open rivers on the bare heights,
    and fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
    and the dry land springs of water.
I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
    the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive;
I will set in the desert the cypress,
    the plane and the pine together,
so that all may see and know,
    all may consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
    the Holy One of Israel has created it.
                                        Isaiah 41:18-20 NRSV

The promises of the Lord are as numerous as the stars in the sky that He created. He created all things. He created even the wilderness which we find ourselves wandering through. The hand of the Lord has done this. Let us give thanks to the Lord for all His promises; for all of his gifts to humankind.

God's Peace - Pr. J