“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
 your kingdom come, your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven…”                                                                                                                            Matthew 6:9-10

What a great weekend! Last Friday, I presented a community workshop on professional ethics for my counseling and social work peers at New Creation Counseling Center. In attendance were a number of colleagues whom I had not seen for years. Several of them were counselors whom I had supervised over the years, and it was so affirming to see them making a difference in the lives of their clients. What a joy it was to interact with them, and to share my professional journey through the lens of an ethics discussion.

On Saturday, my family was in town to attend the graduation of my oldest grandson, Jack as he graduated from Miami University. Experiencing the traditions of a college which indeed has a storied history was very reassuring. The time-honored customs of a college graduation were well observed. I must also mention how proud I am of Jack who graduated Magna Cum Laude. Yes, Poppa must have room to boast here! 😊

Finally, on Monday, I attended the retirement of a dear man who started a non-profit for people in recovery (Joshua Recovery Ministry). He did this AFTER he retired from his full-time career when he was in his early 60’s. This man, Ron Will, has a heart for ministry, and he has not let age define his work and mission call. What a joy it was to celebrate Ron with, again, some people I had not seen for years. I reconnected with like-minded people who value recovery work- work that calls us to honesty, humility, patience, and dependence upon God to do things that we cannot do for ourselves.

So, it was a full weekend, and it was so wonderful. We are called to bring the Kingdom of heaven to earth. This weekend was a bit of that Kingdom of heaven coming to earth.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for the plan that you have for us to work together to bring some heaven to earth, Amen

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.                                                                                                                                                      II Corinthians 12:9

Remorse: a gnawing distress arising from a sense of guilt for past wrongs 

Merriam -Webster Dictionary

I speak with my clients about guilt and remorse. Guilt is a negative emotion that does actually have a purpose. Its job is to get us in touch with things that we have done wrong in order to remedy the situation. Unfortunately, many people live in guilt long after its usefulness has passed. Guilt is useful only to the extent that it can get us to a higher level of awareness and functioning. It can cause us to act upon the deeds we have done that are not praiseworthy, and ask forgiveness for them.

Remorse is the next level- the healing level- that guilt can bring us to. Remorse is the distress caused by the fact that we have hurt someone else. We feel bad because we have hurt others. Our pain is the fact that we have caused others pain.

Unfortunately, there is cheap guilt that is self-serving. This guilt is hurt that we have been caught. We feel bad because our reputation has been hurt, or because we have consequences to pay. We are upset because we got caught or found out.

I discuss this because remorse is a higher level of self-awareness. Those who experience true remorse seek forgiveness not because they want to feel better. Rather, they want those whom they have hurt to feel better in some way.

So, words matter, and the context of levels of awareness are part of that. True self-awareness needs language in order for it to be understood.  Living in guilt is a bad way to live. Defining ourselves in terms of shame is even worse.

Tomorrow we will talk more about guilt and shame.

Prayer: Lord, you have provided the remedy for guilt and shame. Thank you for your grace and forgiveness, Amen

for each one should carry their own load…                                                                                   Galatians 6:5

In talking with a client recently, we discussed the values he learned from his mother about responsibility. I had commended this client for his willingness and ability to recognize and own his part in some disputes with his wife. He told me that his mother had taught him that when he was in some trouble at school or in the neighborhood, she did not automatically rush to his defense whether he was right or wrong. Rather, she had him explain the situation and examine his part in whatever problem had been encountered. He explained that he felt that his deep sense of personal responsibility stemmed from her valuable teaching.

That mom taught her son some important life lessons. We always need to examine our part in any relational problem and take responsibility for that. It is not a matter of trying to shift blame, nor accept blame inappropriately. It is simply a good exercise in the personal ownership of relational issues. We all own a part. It is important to accept what that is, and work toward our own self awareness and responsibility for maintaining healthy relationships.

As we approach Mother’s Day, I thought that this reminder about the influence of our moms is so important. I never met this client’s mom, and I never will, but I like her thinking.

Prayer: Help us Lord to see that we honor you and others when we recognize our own failures or mistakes, Amen.

Never pay back evil for evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honest clear through.  Don’t quarrel with anyone. Be at peace with everyone, just as much as possible. Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God, for he has said that he will repay those who deserve it. Don’t take the law into your own hands. Instead, feed your enemy if he is hungry. If he is thirsty give him something to drink and you will be “heaping coals of fire on his head.” In other words, he will feel ashamed of himself for what he has done to you.  Don’t let evil get the upper hand, but conquer evil by doing good.                                                                                                                                                            Roman 12:17-21 (Living Bible)

The United States had another mass shooting this weekend. It has, incredibly, become commonplace. My readers in other countries probably shake their head in amazement that such carnage goes on, and that there is no political or moral will to stop it.

I agree.

My daughter is a trauma surgeon, and she has seen more than her share of this carnage up close. She tries to piece together bodies ravaged by assault rifles. My son is a police officer who is constantly on the alert about a public that is armed better than he is.

Is mental illness to blame? Perhaps, in some cases, but we have had mental illness in our population forever, and we have never had such murderous outcomes before. Is it evil that is to blame? Certainly, in some cases, yes. Evil goes about seeking destruction when its own desires are thwarted or its own lusts cannot be sated.

This is a complex problem- one not easily solved. However, serious discussion must start to take place about the role of weapons in our society and how they are regulated. No one I know of is suggesting that guns be confiscated- that would not be appropriate, and it is not feasible.

What is the role of Christians in working toward a just and safe society?

I think Christians need to ponder that one.

Prayer: Lord, give us wisdom about how we can influence “thy Kingdom come”, Amen

      I have been preparing for an Ethics workshop, and one of the things I decided to discuss in that workshop is the historic underpinnings of ethical medical behavior. Hippocrates developed his ethical framework somewhere around 400 BC. A variant of this oath, derived from his original tenets, is taken by new physicians upon graduation from Medical School. It is a beautiful and moving thing to watch.

      The actual oath taken varies some from this basic template, and some schools and graduates craft their own versions to reflect current ethical concerns. So, while it is unlikely that graduates will recite this specific oath, they pledge themselves to the welfare of their patients and their community.

      I reprint the Hippocratic Oath here to remind my readers that physicians are pledged to a very high standard of patient care. They take their craft incredibly seriously- because it is. It is life and death for their patients.

      So, the next time you visit your doctor, remember that she/he is dedicated to your well-being. You may not always agree with them. You may even have had disagreements or conflicts with them- that happens. Remember they are human too, but they have pledged to put your well-being as a high value- one that costs them in many ways.

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and 

therapeutic nihilism

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.

I will not be ashamed to say “I know not”, nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient’s recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life and save life wherever possible within reason; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person’s family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling, and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

Prayer: Lord we lift up those men and women who provide care for us, Amen

So, if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective                           Colossians 3:1-2 (The Message)

It is interesting how perspective can change our opinions. If we look at situations from a slightly different perspective, it can completely change our perception, and our attitudes. I recall some times in the past when I was watching football and I saw the replay of a potential touchdown. (It seems that every touchdown is now viewed no less that 17 times by officials, commentators, and the guys in the video truck- but I digress.)

On the replay, they showed several angles from different cameras. On at least 2 of the angles, the touchdown was not a touchdown. However, on one angle, it seemed clear that the ball had crossed the end zone line. All of a sudden, the certainty in the announcer’s analysis vanished. He had seen it from a different angle, and he changed his opinion.

I talk about that with clients at times. Some clients in relationships think that they are suffering because of the behavior of their partner- that their partner is being unreasonable. Then I might ask, what if you were to look at this from a different perspective- the spiritual perspective? What if you could decide to take the sacrificial role, and agree that what you are suffering is not fair or reasonable. You can choose to accept that, but not feel powerless about it. Now they would no longer be the victim of imposed unfair behavior, but they would have the option of choosing to accept the situation, and have the more noble goal of sacrificing for their relationship.

When we are in control of decisions, and do not feel that we are the victims of unfair behavior, we are much better able to accept uncomfortable things, and actually feel good about making the personal changes which can make the relationship better.

Please be assured that I am not talking here about abuse, and reckless offenses by one partner to be simply “accepted” by the other. I am talking about some everyday types of annoyances and concerns that may take on a role larger than it really needs to. You know, it’s a matter of perspective. Choosing to frame things differently can change everything.

It’s all a matter of how you decide to see it.

Prayer: Lord, you have given us the ability to decide how we want to react to our environment. Give us the wisdom to see things from your perspective, Amen.

Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious ideal; yet now God declares us “not guilty” of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in his kindness freely takes away our sins.                                Romans 3:23-24 (Living Bible)

I am a member of a community leadership forum, and recently there was a question posed about ethical leadership principles. One of those principles was about owning our biases. This presupposes that we have an awareness of our biases. Then, we must be willing to take a look at those biases and determine to what extent that they may be affecting our decisions, our relationships with others, and how we run our organization.

My response to the forum was this analogy.  In 12 Step work, there is the 4^th Step which calls for us to take a fearless and searching moral inventory of our character defects. Owning a bias is not a character defect. Denying that we have biases is.

 Taking a 4^th Step inventory is a very healthy process. Everyone, regardless of whatever recovery status one may have, could benefit from working the 12 Steps of AA. As one of the slogans stated in our Recovery Service at Church, Recovery is Not Just for Alcoholics Anymore.

Yes, we are all recovering sinners, loved by God and precious in his sight.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for the freedom of owning our own defects and biases, Amen

Dear friend, guard Clear Thinking and Common Sense with your life;
    don’t for a minute lose sight of them. They’ll keep your soul alive and well,
    they’ll keep you fit and attractive.

Proverbs 3:21-22

You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus                                                         Mark Twain

As I was taking a delightful walk this morning with my wife and daughter, we came across a large pond with ducks, turtles, geese, and various aquatic fauna. We saw some turtles crawling up a little ramp onto a little island in a nearby pond. The ramp had been placed for the turtles to get a better foothold to climb up to the island.

We noticed that two turtles were already at the head of the little ramp, but they blocked the way of a third turtle who was trying to get onto the island. Try as he might, the little turtle could not push one of the blockers out of his way. He repeatedly tried to push the offending turtle out of the way, but as we left the scene, he was not making a lot of progress.

The interesting part was, that as we walked and talked, we were making up fun stories about the turtles. We speculated that it was a sibling rivalry, and the younger turtle was blocking his annoying older brother who had always teased him as a kid. We developed other narratives that were fun as we spun some expandatory tales of the situation.  

It struck me that when we are confronted with a scenario that has no obvious explanation, we will invent one. We will “fill in the blank” with a narrative of our imagination that is fun or interesting. While this is an enjoyable and creative exercise, it can also lead to more dark narratives, such as conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories again can be interesting, but the caution is that just because the theory can plug the information gap, that does not mean it is true.

Even more nefarious are those theories that are conjured up to make the case for our pet notions that have no evidentiary base. Sometimes, we may latch on to a theory simply because it seems to align with a needed belief system of ours. When we dismiss other more plausible explanations, then we are really in trouble.

So, using our imagination to come up with our own narratives to explain the world is natural, and can be fun and creative. We just need to have the self-awareness to discern if the narrative is simply to meet our own needs about how the world works.

Prayer: Lord, you have given us the wonderful gift of imagination, help us to use it wisely, Amen

You will notice that the variety of bodies is stunning. Just as there are different kinds of seeds, there are different kinds of bodies—humans, animals, birds, fish—each unprecedented in its form. You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies not only on earth but in the skies—sun, moon, stars—all these varieties of beauty and brightness. And we’re only looking at pre-resurrection “seeds”—who can imagine what the resurrection “plants” will be like!                           I Corinthians 15:39-41 (The Message)

I know what you’re thinking. What in the world is up with a headline titled Bananas. Well, bananas illustrate an important biological fact. The bananas that you eat are likely Cavendish variety bananas. In fact, about 99% of all exported bananas are now the Cavendish variety. That was not the case 100 years ago when the Gros Michel (Big Mike) was the predominant variety of banana that hit the export market.

Why does that matter you say? Well, about 50 years ago or so, a fungal infection overcame the Gros Michel variety, and it was found that the Cavendish variety was able to withstand the fungal plague that has all but eliminated the Gros Michel variety. The good news for banana lovers is that the Cavendish variety seems to have immunity to that killer fungus.

Except, now maybe it doesn’t.

Here is where the point of the story emerges. The Cavendish variety has been bred so that it is actually reproduced by cloning itself. It is genetically so lacking in diversity that it has no resistance to menacing predators that might now come along. It is so inbred, that if that certain fungus attacks the Cavendish, we are out of bananas! Current research indicates that the nasty fungus that devastated the Gros Michel may now be able to attack the Cavendish variety also. Lack of diversity tends to doom life forms that are not diverse.

God’s plan for diversity is an insurance that there is a healthy response to diseases and predators that would overwhelm highly inbred life forms. That is just the way it works. We humans tried to get “pure stock” (the eugenics debacle of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries), by naming some races inferior, or some people as “defective”.

God’s plan is for the marvel of diversity- accepting that differences in nature work for the good of preserving life.

Prayer: Lord, you have given us the beauty of diversity in your creation. Help us to truly appreciate it, Amen

Whoever has ears, let them hear…                                                                                                          Matthew 11:15

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.                                                                                James 2:14-19

I recently read a book titled Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus. In this book, the author is trying to get the reader in mind of how Jesus taught and thought, and how those who heard him may have received his teachings. 

One of the explanations the author used was that of the Hebrew language. It had a vocabulary of about 80,000 words. Compare that to the English language which has perhaps 400,000 words. Hebrews were used to having a rich and elaborate meaning to their words since they did not parse them out as freely as English-speaking people might. There may be several different associated concepts with one word in the Hebrew language.

When Jesus, for example, used the word “hear”, that meant that the hearer would not only hear the word, but believe it as well. Further, if one believed a concept, they were expected to act upon it as truth. In other words, hearing, believing, and doing were all tied together. If you hear your master tell you something, and believe it, the expectation is that one would act upon that belief.

I find it interesting in Western Christianity, we have somehow been able to separate belief from actions. Somehow, just holding onto a belief can be divorced from actions, causing some to fail to truly live out their faith. For them, holding a belief in the mind becomes paramount over acting out that faith for others to see.

James talked about the kind of faith that works- that is, the kind that other people can see and experience.

Prayer: Lord, help us to be doers of the word, not just hearers, Amen