I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people…                                                                                                                                                I Timothy 2:1

Les Misérables is a classic novel published in 1862 by the brilliant Victor Hugo. It is a story of grace, redemption, forgiveness, and class disparity, placed during a turbulent period in French history.

This came to mind for me when I recently heard the beautiful song that the hero, Jean Valjean, sang in the movie musical adaptation of the book. The song, Bring Him Home, is sung by Jean Valjean as he beholds the body of Marius who is like a son to him. The song is a plea based upon love, self-sacrifice, and faith. Jean Valjean is willing to exchange places with the young Marius if it will spare Marius’ life.         

That scenario called to mind the role of intercessory prayer, that is, heartfelt prayer to God on behalf of others. To me, that is the purest form of prayer, one devoid of self-serving intent, and a model of how Jesus prayed.

If you have a chance, find that song, Bring Him Home, and listen to it. I mentioned to my wife today at the optometrist, that if she needs to form more tears to deal with her dry eyes, listen to Bring Him Home. That will do the trick!

It always does for me.

Prayer: Lord, help us to be ever mindful of the beauty of intercessory prayer, Amen

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, Colossians 3:23

On our vacation last year we went through the Charlotte, North Carolina airport. A very nice airport indeed. We spent a fair amount of time there given our lengthy layover, but there were adequate numbers of Starbucks shops to tide us over!

When I went into the Men’s Room at one of the gates, I heard a man say, “welcome to my Men’s Room”. He was cleaning stalls and urinals as fast as they were being used. Needless to say, the room was spotless and neat. More than that, I saw a worker who took pride in his work, even to the point of calling it his room.  He was very friendly and kind to all of the patrons, even though he was likely to never see us again. His English was a bit broken, and I could tell that he seemed to be of Middle Eastern origin. Of course, I had no idea of his story and how he got to be in this particular job. I just know that he did his job extremely well, and with energy.

I left that restroom heartened by this man’s attitude of service and kindness that I had just witnessed. If more people displayed that kind of heart and service, and took ownership of their little niche of the world, wouldn’t we be so much better off?

Prayer: Lord, bless those who do every little task as a service to you and others, Amen.

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.                     James 5:7

I am writing this blog just after a refreshing rainstorm which helped cut the heat just a little. The smell of the rain is familiar to us. It hearkens back memories from our deep youth, aromas having the ability to immediately transform us back decades in our minds.

That aroma is known as petrichor. It is a mixture of aromatics derived from fresh earth (algae and bacteria) and Ozone. That rain, if accompanied by some lightning, also delivers much needed Nitrogen from the atmosphere. Nitrogen is stubborn in not presenting itself in a natural state, but the lightning breaks it apart from Oxygen and other atoms, and allows that free Nitrogen to nourish our grass, and more importantly, food crops.

Rain is often associated with gloom and sadness, especially in movies. Rain is sometimes used to bring tension to movie scenes, perhaps a sense of uncertainty and disorder. Sometimes people pray for rain, and sometimes people pray for it to stop raining.

Whatever the situation, rain is a blessing and indeed, a necessity. I am grateful for it (most times) since life cannot function without this vehicle of delivering water to the planet. Rain is another one of those gifts we can take for granted, knowing, when we think about it, that it is an incredible gift.    

Prayer: Lord, we are grateful for rain, and your creative plan for this planet, Amen

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God                                                                                                       Micah 6:8

I recently attended a funeral for a man who had lived a long and fruitful life. He was just shy of 97 years old when he passed. He left behind a legacy attested by friends and family whom he had touched. He was a bit of a “Renaissance Man”- a physician, pilot, artist, historian, and devoted father and grandfather. Stories were told about his service to the community, his family and the medical profession.

Hearing these stories made me think about the legacy we leave. It is our duty to leave the world a better place than when we entered it. We work to educate the generations after us, encourage them to care well for their own families and communities, and to help build hope for future generations.

We cannot do all of this by ourselves. We can only influence within the spheres we find ourselves, but it is our duty to give away what we have been given for the benefit of others.

Prayer: Lord, help us to give away what we have been given, Amen

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being                                                                     Genesis 2:7 (NIV)

I titled today’s blog The Human Spirit, but I could have just as easily titled it The Spirit of God. The Bible discusses the origin of human life as being “God breathed”. The same language was used at the time of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came over the crowds as “strong wind and tongues of fire”.

I was thinking of this idea of the human spirit after seeing my clients this past week. Many of my clients exhibit resilience that is remarkable. Two in particular stuck me this week. One is a young man who experienced merciless bullying when he entered high school, likely because he has severe social anxiety. He also appears to be on the autism spectrum. He has been able to demonstrate incredible resilience and courage as he has begun to journal his painful experiences. His insights and courage in visiting his pain are nothing short of remarkable. He is starting to heal.

Another client has multiple physical maladies which point to a terminal diagnosis. Yet, she has found renewed spirit and meaning by starting a ministry to homeless people. She gathers resources for these forgotten people, and she has been able to engage her church and community response to help these folks. It is what keeps her going she tells me.

So, there you have it. These people have acted out of an indomitable human spirit. Whenever you feel like you cannot push forward, be encouraged by the fact that God has instilled in us a Spirit that pushes for life, not just for us, but for others.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord for the Spirit, from above which you have breathed into us, Amen

Simon Peter answered, “Lord, there is no one else that we can go to! Your words give eternal life…  John 6:68 (Contemporary English Version)

Disappointed with God. That was the title of a book written by Phillip Yancy many years ago. Do you feel that way sometimes? If so, you’re in good company. The Psalmists, including David expressed such feelings very clearly and openly to God in their writing and in their prayers. Other Bible writers expressed that sentiment also. If you’re honest, there were plenty of times you felt that way too.  

The fact that we can be open and honest with God about such disappointment speaks to the very relationship that we have with him. Hiding those feelings from others, and ourselves, is not healthy. Sharing such disappointment with God is not only honest, it is proper. The fact that we can even be disappointed says that we have expectations of God to be part of our life. He simply does not always react the way that we would want or like.

The hard part is to “trust him anyway”. That is what the Psalmists usually ended up saying. I mean, what else can we do? As Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, there is no one else that we can go to! Your words give eternal life…”

So, it is, in my humble opinion, good to let God know that we are hurt, sad, disappointed- whatever it may be. He already knows that anyway. But we also know that we must “trust him anyway”, because truly, there is nowhere else to turn, and he has the words of eternal life.

Prayer: In the words of Peter, we know that you are the person that we turn to, and to “trust in anyway”, no matter the circumstances, Amen

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and so we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also boast in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces patience,  patience produces character, and character produces hope.  And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us                                                      Romans 5:1-5

There is real value in the simple phrase- “There is a solution to every problem”. The reason that this is so powerful as a fundamental belief is that it allows us to continue to seek for solutions. If our core belief is that there is a way to figure out something good out of a problem situation, we will keep looking for that solution.

The solution might not be one that we originally considered. The solution may be that we need help from others to solve a problem. The solution might be acceptance of things that we cannot change. The point is, if we believe that a solution is possible, we will continue to pursue it.

The saying is really of value in terms of the idea of looking for solutions rather than assuming that what we face is impossible. Yes, many people face daunting and terrible problems, often not of their own making. Yet the concept of finding a way out of our current difficult situation is worth the consideration.

Prayer: Lord, help us to continue to persevere, even when things look bleak, Amen

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful, I know that full well.                                                                  Psalm 139:14 (KJV)

I heard recently of a company’s clinical study about their treatment drug for migraine headaches. The company shared the results of the study in their advertising. Those participants that had received the studied medication indeed had fewer migraines per month than those who had received the placebo. However, the difference was small- about 2 less migraines per month. Based upon the study parameters however, this reduction was statistically significant. Therefore, the makers of the studied medication could advertise that their medication reduced migraines more than the placebo.

As I thought about the raw numbers, the difference in performance was minimal. Yes, based on the study parameters, the difference was significant, but the actual experienced difference was minimal.

All this is to say that the effects of placebos can be powerful. People who believe that they are receiving a remedy are often prone to experience some relief, even if the dose they received was just a sugar pill or a saline injection. The power of our mind, especially in regard to pain relief, is not to be minimized. If we are given hope, and attention, we often experience a curative effect no matter what the medication.

I recall a mentor from many years ago, a psychiatrist named Dr. Arnold Allen (a brilliant man, by the way), who cited studies about mental health treatment in the old state hospitals. He noted that studies of the newer psychoactive medications being trialed in the 1950’s, had to account for the effect of the increased attention paid to the patients in the trial studies. Just the fact that the patients were receiving increased attention from staff was indeed found to be helping in symptom relief, and it often resulted in more normal patient behaviors. It was not always just the effect of the medications in the studies.

So, our mind is a healing tool. Expectation of positive results often is healing in itself.

Prayer: Lord, you have made us in amazing ways! Amen

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.                                       II Corinthians 10:5

By Mastroianni and Hart

Thanks to www.johnhartstudios.com

I have been a fan of the B.C. comic strip for decades, not only because of its humor, but because of the life truths it often portrays. The other day, the strip really nailed it on how anxiety works. I have often said that anxiety is that self-defeating part of us that we carry around. It is our “unwanted traveling partner”.

When we can recognize that this situation exists, we can then prepare for it. Expecting that the anxiety will pop up, and it will, we can begin our control plans. We can have our list of “escape strategy” behaviors ready to deal with anxiety.

In the comic, B.C. is expecting the anxiety to kick in, just when he is having a great day. He then invites the anxiety to ruin it, almost heading it off before it sneaks up on him. This is his way of trying to control anxiety before it has a chance to control him.

There is much truth in humor. Knowing that WE are in control of the anxiety stops the anxiety from controlling us!

Prayer: Lord, you have given us tools to handle our emotions. Help us to use them wisely, Amen

“Never will I leave you;
    never will I forsake you.” So, we say with confidence “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?”

Hebrews 3:5-6

I was speaking to a client recently who had lost her adult son to death through alcoholism. Her grief is palpable, and she is recovering as best a parent can who has lost a child. Actually, there is perhaps some level of acceptance of the reality of the loss, but the pain is always there lurking to some degree. Yes, it recedes over time, but it never completely goes away.   

As parents, this is a forever covenant. Certainly, we launch our children into adulthood, and typically, if they are blessed, have children of their own. But we are always a parent. We always root for our kids’ success. We hurt if they hurt. We rejoice when they rejoice. We are always their parents.

As I have said in the past, I did not completely understand (and I certainly still don’t) the love of God until I had my own children. God said “Never will I leave you;never will I forsake you.” He said that as our Creator and loving Father.

So, we parents get the joy, and occasionally the burden, of parenthood. But no matter what, we are always parents.

What a privilege!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the gift of parenthood, Amen