The Greatest Good

“No one knows whether death, which people fear to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good.” … Plato

On this, the day after the so-called Judgment Day that never was, I see this quote and think of all the people that were anxious yesterday. Those who were truly afraid, scared about the end of the world and the end of their lives … all for naught. Death is fearful for many people … that too, all for naught.

The frenzy about the “last day” was interesting to me. Silly for sure, as many in the media were saying. But the fact is the end of the world … our world … can come at any moment, not on some artificially appointed day. Our last breath won’t be surely anticipated at all … it will come and there will be no more. It probably won’t happen with hoopla or media … it will more likely come quietly, on little cat feet, perhaps when we least expect it.

Plato is right … and wrong. When he says “no one knows” I can disagree … believers do know. When he says death may be the greatest good, I can agree … believers do know that, too.

As one of my favorite poets T.S. Eliot said, “In my beginning is my end.” That is the essential truth of life … we will begin and we will end, all in our own due time. There will in fact be a Judgment Day at some point … I believe that. But we will also have our very own. And our eternal life will prove that death is indeed the greatest good.

Teaching with Love

From Marc Middleton, a post that addresses how his daughters became so accomplished …

“So what did we do? We taught them to think. We taught them about actions and consequences. We instilled in them the value of every human being and helped them appreciate the blessing and the responsibility of being born in a land of opportunity. We put them in good schools and helped them learn the difference between good friends and bad. Somewhere along the way they became self-motivated.

The only thing I know for certain is that love has been behind every decision we've made for the past 18 years. I was reminded of that recently while leaving swimming practice early one morning. As I climbed into my car, I paused to admire the shiny black Mercedes parked on one side and the long white Lexus parked on the other. I was rolling in the Nissan minivan from work. As I glanced at the Mercedes, I instinctively thought, "Some day." I've been saying that to myself for 18 years. But this time I realized that I no longer meant it. I no longer wanted it.”

I always value Marc’s writings … he has an innate sense of how to tell a story, born of a career in television, radio and new media. And as a father with 4 grown children, I very much appreciate his special perspective on his daughters. It is in fact all about love.

Beyond teaching children, we have an opportunity to make love a fulcrum in our own lives. Jesus said “love one another as I have loved you” and that is so true … it’s a life perspective we can choose to have, in all situations. As Marc showed, it is a way of thinking that suffuses all we do, all we teach and all we share.

Think about how we can live with love … it is a gift to be shared with our children, and with all who breathe.

To read all of Marc’s worthwhile post about love, click on the link below and enjoy …   

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-middleton/growing-bolder-it-begins-_b_862531.html

What Faith Is

From an article in the Orlando Sentinel, an unimaginable story of faith …

After Dorothy Lewis was raped twice, shot between the eyes and robbed of the most precious things in her world — her daughters Jamilya, 7, and Jasmine, 3 — the widowed mom was certain that her life was over, too.

"That's what I said and what I believed," said Lewis, now 53, during an interview marking the 18th anniversary of the murders of her little girls in Eustis, one of Central Florida's most heinous and cruel crimes. "I could not see myself living past that day."

But she has.

"I want to encourage people to not give up, to just know there is hope in situations that seem hopeless," Lewis said inside New Directions Family Worship Center, a small church in Marion County where she and her husband, Hugh Frazier Brockington III, are co-pastors. "People say they don't believe in miracles, and I say, 'OK, you want to see a miracle? Just look at me.' "

As her physical wounds healed, she struggled with fear. She wouldn't venture outside the house alone. She had to make sure all the windows were locked and the blinds pulled. She attended a grief support group but found it depressing. She tortured herself with questions for months after the girls' funeral, asking herself what she could have done differently that would have saved them.

"I just decided that I couldn't do that anymore because 'what-iffing' wasn't going to change anything," she said. "I just accepted that my girls were gone. … I felt that I had to get better because God spared my life. God could have spared them — just like he saved me — he could have allowed them to live, but he didn't see fit to do that. I just had to accept that he wanted them more, and God is too wise to make a mistake."

She didn't say, 'Why me?' and do all the whining that some people do. She never lost her faith in God. Her issue was, 'OK, all this happened. Now what am I supposed to do with it, Lord?' " … and she became a school teacher, an answer to her prayer.

One more thing. Before the trial of the killer of her girls, she decided to forgive him. "Not to forgive, and holding in all that anger and hate, was just going to make me an angry, bitter person," she said. "You have to be able to forgive to be forgiven and to move on. In my mind, I had no choice."

There is not much I can do but wonder at her example. Most of us will never face the choices she did, but what faith is, is right there in her story. Even when life is at its very darkest, there is life still, grace still, hope still. May we remember that, when life goes dark for us … the sun and the Son will shine again.

What a Friend We Have

A wonderful gospel song quote from a Facebook friend, Cindy Hockenjos … “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”

Isn’t that truth? We think answers are elsewhere, anywhere, everywhere ... we worry in advance, we struggle with despair, we over think every situation, we let concern overwhelm us. We are just plain anxious and stressed so much of the day. And not just about important things. No, we are willing to forfeit peace about the simplest things ... just think about your own day, as I will mine.

But here's the thing, and you know this. Jesus is always there, waiting for us. He is right there, in our minds, maybe just out of reach but totally accessible at all times. We may ignore Him but He does not ignore us. He is looking to soothe our needless pain and bring us His peace, that peace that passeth all understanding. He is the answer we may not fully realize we are looking for. I have always known that but my recent Emmaus retreat absolutely cemented it in my mind. Jesus is in fact the answer ... the only answer.

I pray we see that answer in our hearts and I especially pray that my children will always see it. It brings so much peace, so quickly that it may amaze you. What a friend we indeed have in Jesus ... 

Never Too Late

“Just because you are seventy is no excuse to give up and let others make your decisions for you. The fact that you are still alive is reason enough to believe that you are here for a purpose; and that purpose is to learn, to teach and to GIVE.” … Thomas D. Willhite

Yes … of course there are exceptions to this, at any age … the young and the elderly with health needs, memory issues and other challenges. People with extreme disabilities. The lonely too.

That said, the premise of the quote sticks hard with me. We all contribute every day we are breathing, in ways we see and ways we don’t see. We are able citizens of the universe and have influence on a part of that universe, our corner of it. That corner may be limited or broad, close in or expansive with unknown boundaries. Like the now famous butterfly effect, our actions ... the ways we learn and teach and give ... have effects we can't always immediately see and feel. School teachers know this well. Innovators too.

Whether you're sixty, seventy, eighty or more ... whether you're struggling with your purpose at any age ... this you must believe: You are alive for a reason. You are here for a purpose. You are a valued citizen of the universe. And it is never too late to embrace your purpose, and act on it ... today is as good a day as you'll have.

Wag More

Seen on a bumper sticker … “Wag more, bark less.”

Just a reminder that you get more done with sugar than salt. Too often we are given negative feedback ... too often we let our day be ruined ... too often the frustrations pile up, and we may show our negative side. Is that who we are? Is that really who we are called to be as people of faith?

Most often we do have a choice in our attitude ... it's something we try to ingrain in our kids, and to model whenever we can. It is wagging more and barking less that brings us joy, whether at home or at work or at play or at church or on the phone or in emails ... or in our quiet moments. Those moments especially, when we are too hard on ourselves, when we allow the inner pessimist take over.

Wag more ... it is way good for the soul. And really, it is easier than you think.

Sing with Me

I saw an interview of Steven Tyler, the lead singer of Aerosmith, and it reminded me of one of my favorite songs, Dream On … I love the message in it:

Every time that I look in the mirror …

All these lines on my face getting clearer.

The past is gone,

It went by like dusk to dawn.

Isn’t that the way?

Everybody’s got their dues in life to pay.

Half my life’s in the book’s written pages …

Live and learn from the fools and the sages.

You know it’s true …

All the things you do, come back to you.

Sing with me, sing for the year,

Sing for the laughter, sing for the fear,

Sing with me, just for today,

Maybe tomorrow the good Lord’ll take me away.

That’s poetry not often found in today’s modern music, and it speaks volumes. About life, about your past, about understanding what we’re all about. And it’s a reminder that I need to look closely at those “lines on my face”.

What is a life but the end effect of all those lines. Today is my birthday and I know more than ever that the past is in fact gone, and it went by so quickly. Just as we all have, I have paid some dues and learned from them. At this point, more than half of my life has been written and everything I have experienced does in fact come back to me, good and bad. There is a lot to think about, but I especially like the refrain … the idea that we can sing even in the face of those lines.

Sing today for sure, because some day the Lord will take you away … I am blessed to be alive, to be loved and to love … you too.