my 21st High school reunion

I am heading off to my 21st year high school reunion from 1983. It does not seem possible that over 25 years ago, I started my high schoool adventure, but it will be good to reconnect with old friends and see how their lives have changed. I will probably not recognize some of them since it has been 11 years since I last saw some of them, but it will be good anyway.
The night at Riverview Manor in Norwalk was good-being able to see my old classmates and see how they have changed over the years. It is kind of hard to see how people change with one or two sound bytes, but it connects me to the past. There was 1980's music playing along with the favorite slide show of the students at the time. Definitely a different era back then when I was a teenager. But it was good to go back momentarily anyway.

In the Corner

In one of our fellowship discussions at church, we talked on how loneliness and isolation can affect our lives. It is important to be connected to each other and to have meaningful relationships in our lives. That way we will be on the straight and narrow path that Christ talks about during his life on earth and we will make the right decisions for ourselves.
Loneliness is an easy emotion that can pop up when we least expect it. It can even occur after being with a group of people for an entire day. The withdrawal from people can sometimes be intense, but our leaning upon God is critical, especially since He states "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." That then is the secret of how we can overcome the loneliness and be connected to each other as Jesus states, "you are the branches and I am the vine."
Now that is an effective way to live, but it is often hard to live out.

Looking back upon History

       As I have been given the opportunity to read chronologically through the Bible this year, I am at the point in the scriptures where God is portraying His plan to His people ahead of time.  Many times, it can be confusing as to the exact meaning of the prophecy, but it is exciting and challenging to find how the verses spoken and taught during church relate to the actual history of that time.   The scriptures also explain the politics and economics and history of the time which is what I actually enjoyed as I studied my history, philosophy and economics during my junior year at Fairfield University.

A Christmas Holiday

      The snow has covered the long, windy country roads of Maine during the winter.  The snow clings to the trees and the snow glistens along the coastal shore.  The roads along the coast are primitive in nature since they get much abuse from the barrage of winter weather against them.
An assortment of potholes always crops up against them during the following summer.
         One particular winter holiday was lots of fun since my parents decorated the trees outside the house by the ocean and my mom bought excellent christmas cookies that were full of almond and were sprinkled with colorful designs.

Cheetahs dance

     Cheetahs are powerful animals and imagine being able to dance with one of them in the middle of a circus ring surrounded by many witnesses.  It might be a little difficult to catch up with them and also their power and might could scare anyone away.
       In life, it feels good to be surrounded by powerful examples in nature of God's strength and to be able to imagine interacting with them.  In life, we are all faced with challenges that can daunting at times.  But just imagining a dance with one of these creatures can minimize the size of the problems we face. 
       In the Old Testament, David was faced with a fight against Goliath, a Philistine, and he overcame the giant twice his size with a sling shot and stone.    
       So, we can all face the giants of the world with simple objects combined with an imagination or respect to their beauty and might.
     

encouragement

A visiting pastor gave our message today since our pastor is on vacation this week. It was on encouragement. Encouragement can be seen as an oil that helps grease the wheels of our life.
Just as a locomotive has many wheels that are connected to each other by levers and pulleys which guide the train, the local church can be a place where we can be encouragers that allow people to minister to each other and the world to move it to its designated destination.
During the sunday morning discussion that I am guiding in Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for the Highest, one of his themes is that we need to aim higher in our lives to be on God's level. One of our participants stressed that we need the one anothers from scripture that will allow our lives to function smoothly and move the train of our lives forward. In the above illustration, the pastor is the local shepherd or engineer that knows all about the train and what it needs to do its work smoothly and efficiently.

The landing

After anyone experiences feeling a little inclimate weather, it feels good to emerge with a little more rest and some peace. It always felt the same way after a major Noreaster storm in Maine in the summer when the winds would come from the northwest and blow away any fog and leave the skies of Maine with a clarity that could only be described while being present.
Similar sites are the Northern lights. and a similar song of Josh Groban " I can only imagine" is where he explains what he thinks he will feel when he faces Jesus Christ on the other side of life in Heaven.
Facing storms in life is important to grow our character. But it always takes hopeful anticipation toward the future not knowing when relief from the storms will occur but like every day, we are given a promised new sunrise to begin again.

Rest

Rest can be taken for granted sometimes. Especially since I don't like to slow down and say no to some things. But taking that time out to just rest and relax can do wonders and begin a healing process and a chance to gain a new perspective on things. That is why the seasons of fall and winter give the natural world a chance to rest also.

the fourth of July

As I relect on this fourth of July, our nation is taking bold steps in announcing that freedom will reign again. Just as the nation was founded admist revolutions and battles during the 18th century, our nation faces the same challenges during the 21st century as lower Manhattan rebuilds the World Trade Center to the freedom towers. Challenges also exist as we work with the other nations such as Iraq in helping them establish more peaceful causes.
May peace continue to resound in our nation so that in the freedom we enjoy, we can become the best people that God intennds us to become.

Being a part of Royalty

Imagine sitting alone in a room far from the King's territory and being summoned to be a part of his family forever. This is what happened in Israel's history when Jonathan died and left his son, Mephibosheth, alone.
King David inquired of his servant, Ziba, if there was anyone that he could show kindness to . Ziba said there was Mephibosheth. Then arrangements were made to bring Mephibosheth to the King's house and made him part of the table where Mephibosheth ate with the King's household for the rest of his life.
This story illustrates acceptance by King David of someone less fortunate than himself and for the loyalty that he had since he was a close friend of Jonathan.
God does the same thing for us in that He adopted us into His family giving us a place of permanance and significance.
David also had the land of Saul restored from which the daily provisions of life would be cultivated from. Just as Psalm 23:1, the Lord is my shepherd;I shall not want. He prepares a table before the presence of his enemies.
This is exactly how as men we are to be with others=allowing ourselves to be strengthened by one another with the famous expression "iron sharpens iron." This is best done by accepting others with their limitations and incorporating them into the lives of others. Then we will become a fully mature family.