I understand, I'm a liability
Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.
-2 Thessalonians 3:13 (NRSVCE)
Do we get weary in doing right? It’s easy to become weary when we seem to be the only one who is doing right in the world. When “wrong is the new right” and we are deemed living on the outside. There is no one there to encourage us but we still are not alone.
To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
-Romans 8:7-8 (NRSVCE)
What a wonderful invention the sale: garage, yard, estate, moving, stoop, lot, family, basement, town wide, highway, jumble, rummage, church. There are many possible locations for the sale of all the stuff you don’t want and it’s open to the public. Buyer can try to bring the price down or pay sticker price, it’s up to you. Rich or poor can sell and rich or poor have a chance to buy. No license required but in some cases permission. You might organize it on your own or with a friend or as a town. It’s usually on Friday and Saturday for about five hours and hopefully it won’t rain. And on occasion the buyer might find a treasure although that’s gotten harder with web search and auctions sites. It can certainly beat an auction where you have to wait for hours for the one item you want in a box with stuff you don’t want and in the end you don’t bid high enough anyway.
Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.
-Thessalonians 5:20-22 (NRSVCE)
How do you find new music to listen to? One way is through video. Either from a show’s theme song or the soundtrack of a movie. Finding new singers and composers for that one song that you hear is so rewarding. The more we like the show the stronger the connection to the song. So that makes me wonder, would I have liked the song if I heard it on its own first or is it liked because it’s from the show and brings happy memories?
The spiritual life is something that people worry about when they are so busy with something else they think they ought to be spiritual. Spiritual life is guilt.
-Thomas Merton
If Jesus came now as he did 2000 years ago the liberals would crucify him for not being woke enough and the conservatives would crucify him for not being Christian enough.
People are trying to place their hopes in human means that can’t succeed. They’re not going to succeed. They never have succeeded and they never will succeed.
-Thomas Merton
Life is good. It’s been peaceful and I’ve been grateful for it. Yes, there is guilt in that because the world is burning both figuratively and literally. We can pray about it but what else? Saying peace be with you while not providing for our neighbor’s need is wrong yet there is a loss at what material support I can give to many. There are other avenues in our sphere we can directly help and that’s the best to find. There is still helplessness in my heart for those many.
We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.
-Ephesians 4:14 (NRSVCE)