The time came when the Lord God formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And man became a living person.                                 Genesis 2:7

When the universe was set into motion, the Creator had made all the material that has ever been made. No new matter nor energy is being created. What we have now is an exchange of matter and energy, and various particles of matter, such as water, simply being endlessly recycled. As Albert Einstein explained, mass and energy are interchangeable, so both are part of the same creation. Indeed, matter is bursting with energy within its atomic structure.

I started thinking about this again today when there was a song at church with the lyrics stating that even the air we breathe was first breathed into us by God. That made me think of molecules that have been around, well, forever.  There are no new molecules out there, they are just recycled into different forms. Indeed, those first air molecules breathed into God’s creation are still hanging around today.

This simply reinforced for me the fact that the universe is created by God. If the universe were simply an evolving mass of material and energy, more would constantly be being created, right? I mean, if there are no creation rules, and things just…happen, then why isn’t there new stuff being created.

Yes, we can and do manipulate our creation and our environment. We have high speed particle accelerators that can change our current particles, split them into various components, etc., and even make new elements. But the basic material we have to work with, atoms, sub-atomic particles, etc, we have had around for some billions of years. All there right from the Big Bang or as I call it, creation

Nope, no new molecules springing forward, just the same old ones in different form. Kinda crazy, pretty amazing!

Prayer: Your creation is too amazing to understand, help us to simply appreciate it, Amen

He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak                            Isaiah 40:29

Often, other people see things in us that we do not see in ourselves. One of the things that I do as a counselor is get to know my clients, and try to see in them things that they may not see for themselves. Indeed, clients give me permission to speak into their lives, giving them constructive feedback, as well as encouragement. It is an act of humility on the part of a client to give such permission, especially to someone that they do not know. They are showing a level of trust in me before they even know me. I deeply appreciate that trust, and it is my job to honor that by being truthful, holding their best interest at stake, keeping their information confidential, and seeing them as God does as best I can.

As people unfold their story to me, I can gradually get to know how they see the world. I also begin to see strengths in them that they may not see, or maybe they have never given the chance to develop. It is my job to look for those strengths so that we can employ them in dealing with problems, or helping them to manage those strengths better. Remember, strengths to an extreme can become weaknesses, so we must learn to manage those strengths well.

We saw when Jesus chose his disciples that he picked people who were not, in the world’s eyes, the most successful people, or the most learned people. Yet Jesus saw something in them that they did not see in themselves.

John, for example, was called, along with his brother, “a son of thunder” because he had a volatile temper, and an arrogant view about his position in life. Simon, later called Peter, was an exuberant, impulsive, man who frequently spoke before he thought.  He was not the most stable of people in making commitments.

Yet Jesus saw in them characteristics that they did not see themselves. Their affiliation with Jesus transformed them into the men they could be. Jesus had seen that potential, and he spoke that into them.

John later became the loving apostle who wrote such beautiful commentary on how we should love one another. Volatile Simon became “Peter, the Rock”, the one on whom Jesus said he would help build his church. Imagine Simon hearing that he was a “rock”- a solid, capable man of strength. Sometimes, when we hear about the person who we CAN become, we DO become that person.

Prayer: Father, thank you for people who see things in us that we do not see for ourselves. Give us the humility to receive it well, Amen.

The Lord says: Be fair-minded. Do what is right! Help those in need of justice! Quit your evil deeds! Protect the rights of aliens and immigrants, orphans and widows; stop murdering the innocent! Jeremiah 22:3 (Living Bible)

Just curious as to what it might be like if a slight statured young man, a brown toned fellow who did not speak English, showed up at the border in the United States. His language was not recognizable, and he indicated that he was an itinerant preacher. He had a skill, as a carpenter, but he had not practiced it recently.

His family was back in the old country, and he was somewhat estranged from them, but he did have a small group of people with whom he was close. He was seeking asylum, not so much for his sake but for the sake of others. He said he wanted a peaceful place to be able to teach people about his Kingdom- one that did not reject anyone. He had no papers to vouch for who he was. He was not asking for citizenship, he just wanted people to know of a better way to live – a way to get to know God. In fact, he had sought asylum before, rather his parents had, when he was an infant and he had gone to Egypt.  

Of course, you know the situation to which I am alluding. How might Jesus be received if he were a weary traveler, an immigrant, seeking asylum in a place so that he could live out his life mission.

How might we receive him?

Prayer: Lord, how would you have us receive those seeking help in our midst today?

When three of Job’s friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him.

Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.

Job 2: 11,13

There was a movie decades ago starring Peter Sellers titled, Being There. It was vintage Peter Sellers, a veteran comic who had been in the very successful Pink Panther movie series in the 1960’s. In the movie Being There, he played a clueless gardener who was taken, because of his silence and naivete, to somehow be a brilliant, wise person.

The movie was funny, but it pointed to a larger truth. Silence, often just by itself, is golden. In the book of Job, Job was beset by calamities right and left. He refused to be shaken by it, but he was comforted, at least initially, by friends who agreed together to visit their friend Job, and just be with him.   

They were a wonderful comfort to him with their presence. Then they decided to weigh in on why he was having troubles. That is where they made their mistake. Instead of being a comfort, they became a source of irritation. They tried to judge his actions, and ascribe to those actions why God was punishing Job. They meant well, I suppose, but they had become terrible “comforters”.

When they just sat with Job and were sad and lamented with him, they were of great comfort. When they started judging, they became the problem.  

So, the lesson is- just being there for someone, not offering advice or solutions, is a great gift. Do not discount the value of “being there”.

Prayer: Help us Lord not to discount the value of just “being there” with friends, Amen

…hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught                           Psalm 55:2

Do you talk to yourself? I hope so. I know I do.

We are all beset at times by unwanted negative chatter. I call it that unwanted traveling partner that we know as anxiety. Negative self-talk can disrupt us, make us doubt ourself, catastrophize situations, and generally make us believe that our situation is hopeless at times.

We can often reassure ourselves by engaging that self-talk in a more helpful way. For example, talking to ourselves in the third person can distance the strong emotions that can be associated with expectations of doom. By talking to ourselves like another person might, the line of thinking can become more rational and less emotional and catastrophic.

Another question to ask ourselves, and one I ask clients is “How do you think you will feel in three weeks (or 6 months, or whatever timeframe might be more appropriate) when this crisis has subsided?” “How will it be when you come out on the other side of this?”

Our self-talk is often negative and critical- prone to look at the worst possible outcomes of things. Sometimes, it is indeed good to ask that question to ourselves “What is the worst thing that could happen?” Often we find that even the worst outcome is probably sustainable, and that we could manage to get through it, even if that worst thing actually happened.

So, talking to yourself is a really good idea, as long as you can find a loving way to treat yourself!

Prayer: Lord, help us to see ourselves the way you see us, Amen

“I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”                                                                                  Matthew 25:36

One of the blessings of being alive on this planet for 74 years is that I get to see a large swath of change and progress around me. We also get to see our own growth, which is also fascinating, but the subject of another blog.

In the news recently where I live (just north of Dayton, Ohio) the governor of Ohio has set aside funding for a new mental health inpatient facility in Dayton. There is desperate need for it. The irony is, a Dayton mental health facility was closed 16 years ago. Now, we see the need for a new hospital. Well, that need had never gone away. In fact, my first job in the field of mental health was as a social worker in the state hospital at that time, Dayton Mental Health Center.

Mental health treatment was changing rapidly in the 1960’s and 1970’s. New medications were coming out which mitigated the effects of serious mental illness. People with significant thought disorders (delusions) and perceptual problems (auditory and visual hallucinations) which were caused by serious mental illness, were being more or less effectively treated with these new drugs.

Many of the patients in the hospital in those days had deteriorated mentally for many years, and many needed long-term care for their own safety and that of others. As treatments became more available and patients were discharged into the community (theoretically with good support), there was felt to be less need of an institution for their care.

We fast forward 50 years and find that inpatient care, often of longer duration, is still needed to fill the complete spectrum of mental health care. People with chronic mental illness now often find themselves homeless, in prison, or suffering isolation and abuse in a society that does not really understand their needs.

More to come on this. It is timely to think about our response, as Christians, to people in need. How can we best serve the poor and hurting people in our society?

Prayer: Lord, give us wisdom to treat your people with care and dignity, Amen

What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven! What joys when sins are covered over! What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record  Psalm 32:1-2 (Living Bible)

I recently met with a dear young couple who are having relationship problems. There are a host of core issues, and both come to the marriage with some significant trauma of abuse in their family of origin. They hurt one another when they argue, and those old wounds are triggered fairly easily.  

We discussed the issue of forgiveness, and we went into some depth. I discussed with them that there is a difference between asking for forgiveness and apologizing. An apology from the offending party is only a partial remedy, because it lets the offender keep the results in his/her hands. In other words, by simply saying “I’m sorry” there may be a tacit understanding that they have sufficiently remedied the problem by owning it and apologizing.

On the other hand, if the offender asks the offended party to grant forgiveness, that puts the locus of control into the hands of the offended. They have been empowered to forgive (or not), and it restores to them some of the dignity lost in the offense.

The other issue that this brings up is the motive for the apology/asking for forgiveness. If the motive is simply to end the discussion or argument, or to alleviate guilt, that motive is incomplete. If the motive is remorse for the wrong that was done- that is, recognition that the offender’s actions have hurt someone they care about, sorrow ensues, and we want the other to be nurtured and cared for- that is a proper and healing place to begin restoration.

These two people have been hurt, and they sometimes cause hurts, but they are remorseful, insightful, and teachable.

This young couple will do fine.

Prayer: Lord, you are the author of forgiveness. Thank you for that foundational process, Amen

 So, in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.                                                                  Galatians 3:26-28

Okay, I am no Bible scholar, so please just take this as my understanding of what Paul is trying to say. In the context of this passage, I see Paul reminding his followers that Jesus came to fulfill the Law. Faith in Jesus, as the operative who supersedes the Law, is the point of the gospel. Jesus came to fulfill the Law, not to destroy it. Jesus told us that. The Law is fulfilled in loving God and one another and trusting in Him alone. If one has love for God and others, he/she does not need to hear “Don’t kill”, “Don’t steal”, “Don’t blaspheme”, “Don’t lie”- you get my drift.

The same is true for esteeming some people higher than others- you know, our tendency toward judging people who are different, disenfranchising women, stuff like that. Paul was clear here that being one in Christ is the key, not the individual flavors we come in such as Jew, Gentile, slave, free, men, and women.

The Bible has, unfortunately, often been used over the centuries by some as a justification for discrimination. Paul reminded the Galatians of the basics of the faith. We are one in Christ, and that is the basis of unity, not division.

Prayer: Lord, keep us mindful of your unity, not division, Amen

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.                                                 Romans 12:21

I saw a client recently who was a victim of serious emotional and financial abuse from her husband. She was berated and abused by this husband whom she recently left. The damage persists however. He had taken away her self-worth, manipulated her weaknesses, and ended up leaving her for another victim.

My client understands her part in this- all too well. She wonders how she could have been taken in by him. She wonders how there can be people in this world who would do such a thing to another person that they said they loved. She is hurt and confused.

Sadly, we see this in the counseling world. People who are broken by the selfishness and narcissism of others. The good news is, she is starting to heal. Her young son has been a comfort to her, but she feels that he should not be the comforter- she should be comforting him. True statement, but I pointed out that she had raised a son who will be a comforter, one who respects women and one who will treat them well when he is older.

The presence of evil in the world is indeed a puzzle. We don’t like to think about it. In the meantime, we go about trying our best to love one another as Jesus told us to do. We may not understand evil, but we do not need to understand it to overcome it.  

Prayer: Lord, you are the Comforter we can count on, Amen

Jesus watched him go and then said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.”                Luke 18:24-25

This passage from the book of Luke took place after Jesus had told a rich man that he needed to sell everything and give the money to the poor. Then he was to follow Jesus. That was what Jesus said he needed to do in order to get to heaven. The rich man had turned away- the price of following Jesus was too high. Then Jesus made that statement about it being easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.

I think the point here is that it is impossible to get to heaven on our own merits- even if we did sell everything, give the money to the poor, and say that we are following Jesus. No amount of good deeds, generous gifts, or grand gestures can merit the grace to get into heaven.

But I think what Jesus was pointing out to the rich man was a condition of his soul that said the man was not willing to rest on the merits of anyone other than himself. He may have been a “self-made man” in his own eyes. He was used to finding out the cost of what he wanted, and then making the purchase. The cost of his soul was something he could not pay. Only the grace of Jesus can do that.

But let’s think about our own hearts before we judge the “rich man” in this story. The vast majority of those who read this would be considered “rich people” by any worldly standard. Are we really “selling out” everything in order to find the justice for others that Jesus asked? Do we conveniently donate to causes for others or are we “all in” to make this world a better place for all God’s children?

Prayer: Lord, help us to see where we can be the instruments of peace and justice in this world, Amen