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We are now a week into the New Year and it might be a good time to take a step back and refocus on resolutions.  The above was a post card prepared by Bishop John H. Vincent, during World War I, a tough time for most. It is a wonderful combination resolution. It is intimidating, unless we remember the last words. It’s all done by God, through our child like trust in Him and not by our own efforts. Let’s look at it: A Resolve for Every Morning of the New Year  I will this day try to live a simple, sincere and serene life. Repelling promptly every thought of discontent, anxiety, discouragement, impurity and self seeking. Cultivating cheerfulness, magnanimity, charity and the habit of holy silence. Experiencing economy in expenditure, carefulness in conversation, diligence in appointed service, fidelity to every trust and a child-like trust in God. Wow if we could meet a bit of that. What a great picture of Christ-likeness. That won’t be achieved by annual resolution. We can’t just look at ourselves once a year and resolve to make changes. We are 24 hour cycle people. We need to renew our resolve daily. Just like we have a 24 hour work and […]

It’s the fourth day of the New Year. Have you made any resolutions? Have you broken any yet? Will  is Powerless.  New Year’s Resolutions are generally an exercise in futility. Eighty-eight percent of resolutions aren’t kept. Most believe this is because will power is weak and that our best chance is to keep it simple. They teach that we should pick one thing that needs improvement and not push our will power to the breaking point by resolving to lose weight, become wealthy, marry a movie star, and quit smoking. Resolution is complex. It’s more than a firm decision to do something. It is the act of solving or explaining a problem or puzzle. Remember being asked to give a resolution to an algebra problem. The teacher didn’t just want an answer. She wanted to see your work, how you got to the answer. Resolution also means: the degree of sharpness of an image or the number of pixels across and down on a display screen. It implies both close examination, down to the tiniest pixel, but also grasping the whole picture. Resolution is a process. A resolution is not simply a decision to do something. It is process of deep thought and meditation. It means a mental exercise in breaking down something into its essential parts and then coming […]

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34. The wisdom of God is amazing. He knows us so well. He has designed His creation for our benefit. He has broken unlimited time into twenty-four hours block. Segments with clear beginnings and clear endings. This is not arbitrary or unplanned. It seems we are capable of living well only in 24 hour tidbits. In each twenty-four hour block we need time to carry out the work of the day, so He provides us light and a warmer period for that. Each day we need rest, so He turns out the lights, cools things down to give us an environment for rest. The light slowly fades and slowly returns to allow us to acclimate to the new environment. Spiritually, we are designed in cycles as well. We should awaken with new hope and enthusiasm, but it’s time is limited. The worries and cares of the world wear on us and by nightfall, we are tired and discouraged and need a time of refreshment and rest. We are foolish creatures, however. We insist in trying to live in […]

I went to the gym yesterday. I refuse to call it a health club. I don’t go there for social reasons. I don’t list it on my resume’ like Kiwanis or Lions Club. I go there to work out. I go to this “gym” because almost everyone there is older than me and in just as bad shape. I don’t want to work out with guys who look like they could play in the NFL. I went because 2015 is calling. It was pretty crowded but not like it will be next week. Gyms are very crowded in January; not so much in December, or February for that matter. I know because I have been to them a lot in January. I wanted to beat the crowds. Let’s face it. It’s the time of resolutions, trying to re-acquire good habits and lose some bad ones. It’s an annual tradition. It’s just as much of a tradition to have forgotten our resolutions by the 1st of February.  Just about everyone I know is like that. They are all good folks, the people I hang around with. They don’t do a lot of bad things. They do good stuff. In fact, I […]

I love my I-phone 6 plus. I mean I really love it. I take it to bed with me. I stick the ear buds in, put the “radio” on Christian music and fall right to sleep. I don’t need the music to sleep. I can fall asleep in moments, any time and any place. I think the music blesses me even while I sleep. I do wake up in the middle of the night. The music relaxes me, inspires me, helps me focus and eases me back to sleep. I wish I could sing or play an instrument. I worked as a DJ at two different times in my life, but that is as close to “making music” as I’ve ever come. I know I’ll be able to sing in heaven; maybe even play a harp. It will be glorious. To me music is an important part of the church experience. I love praise bands, worship leaders, solos, duets, high church, low church and black gospel choirs. I’m a little disappointed when the music stops and the announcements and preaching starts. I know that borders on heresy. So ex-communicate me. I can hear some of you whispering “Amen.” I […]

The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is strange. We put so much energy into Christmas that there is a certain amount of deflation that occurs when that holiday is over. I know some folks put almost as much energy into New Years Day as Christmas. That has not been my pattern. When Rosemary and I were dating, she got all dressed up for New Years Eve and I showed up in a t-shirt and jeans. We didn’t go out but I asked her to marry me that night dressed in my t-shirt and jeans so I guess that counts for something. For the next forty-four years, it has been our tradition to do nothing on New Years Eve. I try to make up for that by cooking for New Years Day, most of the time. My work schedule is usually light during this last week. Lawyers don’t work the last week of the year. Some folks might say they don’t work at all, but let’s not go there. This cloudy and rainy weather we are having is helping make it a particularly blah week. The year is almost over, yet there doesn’t seem to be enough time or […]

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 1 Corinthians 13:12 Christmas is great. No doubt about it. It’s always a bit better in our memory and our anticipation than it is. I have a theory about that. I think it’s because Christmas is a glimpse of Heaven on earth. The Heaven part is the peace on earth, good will to men, Christmas Spirit thing that we all love. The “on earth” part is the commercialization, stress, gifts that flop, relatives that irritate, tables that don’t look like the ones in the magazine, the bills that come in January. If we can separate the two, we can gain a whole new appreciation of how great Heaven will be. Imagine Christmas every day without the “on earth” part. Heaven will be lots more than that, but at least it’s a glimpse. Those special moments that happen today, let them be glimpses for you. Those not so special moments, let them be reminders that we are still here. Let this idea also free you from guilt if things aren’t perfect […]