Praise God!

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Alleluia!"

Psalm 150:6

The Psalms end with praise. This is the very last verse of the very last Psalm and it ends in praise...so fitting! Soon we will all be sitting down to big Thanksgiving meals with loved ones. Such a wonderful time of love is this time of Thanksgiving! Before the Christmas machine revs up into action, let's make sure we devote some time to praising our God...our Divine parent, who loves us more than we could ever imagine. There is no end to God's showering us with gifts and signs of love. There is no end to the goodness and mercy of God. So, as we celebrate family and friends, let us take time to thank the Source of all good! Alleluia! And Happy Thanksgiving to all! Be safe if you travel! Love, heidi

Come down quickly!

"When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
'Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay
at your house.'"
Luke 19:5

Zacchaeus may have been a despised tax collector, thus villain, in Jewish society, but not to Jesus. Jesus saw something in Zacchaeus that touched his heart...Jesus saw a man who wanted to get closer to him. You remember the story...Zacchaeus was a little short fellow who was a wealthy tax collector. Jesus was surrounded by a crowd and Zacchaeus was too short to get a good look, so he climbed a tree in order to catch a glimpse of Jesus. Jesus beckoned him down from the tree and invited himself to Zacchaeus' house for dinner! In the end, Zacchaeus' encounter with Jesus caused him to give up his evil ways and repay the people he had cheated. He was redeemed by his encounter with Jesus.  As are we. We all may need to, metaphorically, climb a tree to get closer to Jesus, Friends! What must we put aside in our busy lives to get closer to Jesus? What must we climb to see Jesus better? We may need to go out on a limb...
Love, heidi

Embrace the unembraceable

"The words and gestures of Francis are manifestations of a soul completely surrendered to God."

Brennan Manning, "Reflections for Ragamuffins"

 

I love this today.  Brennan Manning talks about how St. Francis embraced everything...from nature and critters (they were his brothers and sisters) to the people of his time, some of whom were frankly, hard to love.  Francis embraced all and served all.  He was able to overlook the faults and failings of others and embrace as we are all called to do.  And, the way Francis was able to do this was through his complete surrender to God.  This is such a lesson for us, Friends! As we prepare to gather around the heavily-laden table of thanksgiving, we can take such a rich lesson from St. Francis. We can realize our place in God's world, as friends and lovers of nature.  And we can realize that it is not our job to judge each other, but to embrace each other, as Francis did.  Love, heidi