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Reflections of a Lay Catholic

Reflections of a Lay Catholic

Monthly Archives: June 2013

The Still Small Voice of Discernment

25 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Discernment, Fear

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Discernment, Fear

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, Who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” – James 1:5

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you knew you needed to do something but you weren’t sure exactly what that something should be, and you also knew that, whichever option you chose, you would be afraid to do it?

As I’m writing this, many men and women I know who are participating in the preparation for a Christ Renews His Parish weekend are in the process this week of “discerning” what their role will be on the weekend.  Having been through the process twice I know it can be quite daunting to think about speaking in front of, and witnessing to, people you don’t know on a subject that may be very personal.  You have on one side a voice calling you to, “Do this, it’s the right thing to do”.  And, then, you hear another voice saying, “No, don’t do that, you’re putting yourself out there and the risk of failure is too great!”

The first time I was faced with discerning what action I should take, I have to admit I had no idea what the word “discernment” meant.  It was not in my vocabulary.  Instead of looking it up in the dictionary to find that its definition according to Webster is, “The quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure”, I guessed it was more like playing poker – you close your eyes and try to imagine through some kind of ESP if you want to draw the next card.  Go ahead and laugh, that’s the truth. It actually worked for me because it took fear out of the equation and reduced it to pure dumb luck.  But, most folks aren’t quite the spiritual neophyte that I am. 

So, how do you choose between discerning the right thing to do and letting fear talk you out of it?

I was reading the other day in a blog that I follow by author Allison Vesterfelt in which she discussed in her new book The Chase, the difference between fear of failure and one’s discernment that a direction is the right way to go.  She writes:

“There is a distinct difference, although sometimes the line between them is thin and fuzzy.  If you ignore the first [fear of failure], you’ll find [freedom].  If you ignore the second [discernment], you may get the opposite – a circumstance that crushes your spirit and steals your life.

“I definitely don’t have all the answers in this area, but there is one thing I’ve learned by making mistakes on both sides.  Fears are loud, and discernment is quiet.  Generally, when I’m trying to make a decision between going this way, or going that way, my fears are screaming to me, warning me about all the possible dangers ahead.  My discernment, on the other hand, is whispering to me, softly: that isn’t the way.

“It seems weird that it would be this way, if you ask me.  I wish my fears would be the quiet voices, and that discernment would be loud.   It would make so much more sense.  After all, my fears are so often lying to me, and I can trust my discernment to tell the truth.  But one thing I’ve learned by listening to the quiet voice of my discernment over the loud voice of my fear is this:  in order to hear, I have to get quiet, and lean in to where the voice is coming from.

“I don’t know if God intended it this way or not, but either way, I’ve found it to be really helpful.  Practicing the discipline of tuning out my fears and tuning into my discernment actually brings me into intimacy with Jesus.  It quiets the noise and sheds the distractions.  It brings Him close to me, and me close to Him.  And the closeness and intimacy we develop in that space, I’m finding, is actually the only thing I need in order to move forward in my journey.”

The quiet voice of discernment, she says?  Where had I heard that before?

I was driving to Nashville, Tennessee this morning listening to one of my favorite CDs, Jason Gray’s, A Way To See In The Dark , and I noticed the lyrics of two songs had something in common.  In both, the songwriter mentions a still, small voice. 

In the first, Fear is Easy, Love is Hard, he writes:

“It comes down to a simple choice,

Shouting devils, or a still, small voice. 

One is spreading fear and dread

Oh, but Love has always said

‘Do not be afraid.’”

In the second, Without Running Away, he writes:

“After a while in the dark, your eyes will adjust,

In the shadows you’ll find the hand you can trust,

And the still, small voice that calls like the rising sun,

‘Come, and bring your heart to every day

And run the risk of fearlessly loving

Without running away.’”

Like Ms. Vesterfelt, he suggests that the devil is the source of the loud shouting behind the fear that is telling us not to do something, but it is Jesus, with His love, who is trying to catch our attention with His quiet whispers, His still, small voice, and that if we place our trust in Him, we can do the right thing even if it is that which we fear to do.

Is this how you have experienced determining what you should do?

For my friends who are discerning this week what role you are being called to play in your ministry, I pray you find it easy to lean in to the quiet, still small voice of Jesus and tune out the loud, fear inducing shouts by the devil of doubt.

God Bless you.

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Catholics are called to ‘daily martyrdom,’ says Pope :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

24 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by richbrewers in Vatican

≈ 1 Comment

Catholics are called to ‘daily martyrdom,’ says Pope :: Catholic News Agency (CNA).

Vatican City, Jun 23, 2013 / 10:26 am (CNA/EWTN News).- During his June 23 Angelus reflection, Pope Francis said the faithful are called to follow the example of the martyrs in losing their lives for Christ, even if they do not suffer violence for their faith.

“Both in the past and today, in many parts of the world there are martyrs, both men and women, who are imprisoned or killed for the sole reason of being Christian,” he said, noting that there are more martyrs dying violent deaths in modern times than in the early centuries of the Church.

“But there is also the daily martyrdom, which does not result in death but is also a loss of life for Christ.”

This “daily martyrdom” consists of people “doing their duty with love, according to the logic of Jesus,” said the pontiff from the window of the Apostolic Palace to those gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

He delivered his Angelus comments reflecting on the day’s Gospel reading, in which Jesus tells his disciples “whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

Pope Francis stressed that there are fathers and mothers who put their faith into practice concretely by devoting their lives to the good of their families each day.

“There are many priests, monks, nuns who give generously with their service to the kingdom of God and the young people who give up their interests to devote their time to children, the disabled and the elderly,” he stated.

“Those who serve the truth serve Christ,” he underscored.

The Pope also spoke of St. John the Baptist, whose feast day is June 24, and pointed to him as an example of a man who gave his life for the truth.

“John was chosen by God to prepare the way before Jesus,” he said, explaining that the saint “devoted himself entirely to God and his messenger” and ultimately died for the truth.

Pope Francis entreated everyone, particularly young people, to “have the courage to go against the tide of current values that do not conform to the path of Jesus.”

God Bless Planned Parenthood

17 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by Jerry Robinson in abortion

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

abortion, Planned Parenthood

Reposted from www.apriestlife.com

Most of my posts to date have been related to my own personal experiences.  Our “About” page says one of our objectives is to, “provide Catholic-based, Christian food for thought through discussion of current events relevant to our faith”.  One particular current event that gets most Catholics riled up is the subject of abortion.  To say that we “hate” or “detest” anyone associated with the Pro-Choice movement may be extreme and wrong, but it appears to me through observations from social media that most of us calling ourselves Christian, Catholic or otherwise, have at least very strong negative feelings towards them.  To that end, I’m sharing below some thoughts from Fr. Jeff Starkovich, a priest in Lake Charles, Louisiana, who was a classmate of my daughters and is now pastor at St. Margaret of Scotland Parish and Chaplain at St. Louis Catholic High School in Lake Charles.  As you read, take a moment for some honest introspection and maybe think about:

Does this change the way I think about the issue?

Do I agree or disagree with him?  Why?

And, if you feel inclined, please let the rest of us know. Perhaps your arguments, one way or the other, will help the rest of us in wrestling with this issue.  Thank you and God Bless.  — Jerry

God Bless Planned Parenthood

Tonight, our youth gathered with their families to contribute to one million rosaries for life. It’s powerful to see the young beseech God’s blessing to aid in the immense task of changing hearts.

As I prayed with them, my thoughts turned to a recent request from our president. On April 26th he spoke at a Planned Parenthood conference. This came as no surprise to anyone. It was his closing line, however, that caused quite a stir:

“Thank you, Planned Parenthood. God bless you.”

In beseeching God’s blessing on the largest abortion provider in the United States, no little uproar ensued from the Christian faithful.  But praying with our flock tonight, my thoughts are different.

To ask for a blessing from God is to request that God pour out his goodness.  Coming from the Latin root benedicere, meaning to “speak well of” or “to commend,” to seek God’s blessing is to commend one to God for the sake of sharing in His goodness.  It is a request for God to pour out his grace upon another so that they may be sanctified.

This is exactly what Planned Parenthood needs.

We are seeking to change hearts.  We desire that hearts may grow and be purified so that all people affected by abortion may experience real love.  And in order to grow in love we must have the support of Love Itself, who we call God.

By commending Planned Parenthood to You, we ask for Your blessing.  May Your grace change hearts and save lives.

Tonight, I thank You for one million rosaries for life.  I thank You for the unexpected inspiration given by our President.  May we always work to grow in holiness.

I agree with you, Mr. President:

God bless Planned Parenthood.

Love is a Verb

14 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Love

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

C.S. Lewis, Charity, Love

John 13: 34-35  “I give you a new commandment:  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The last two weeks have been unlike any I’ve had in some time.  My emotions have run the gamut from worry about some serious and scary health concerns within my family, to feeling so much love for and from God, my family, and my parish community, that I find it difficult to describe.  I think my frequent and fervent prayers about the former were answered and actually begot the latter. The emotional love I am feeling is, I believe, a direct result of the acts of love shown to me from others and by my acts of love to them.  It’s the act of loving that has built a bridge over that emotional gap.  And it’s that bridge that has caused me to examine it and to count it as one of my blessings.  Let me explain.

Many years ago I lived in England and, as a seventh grader, I studied Latin. I don’t remember ever learning the Latin word for the noun form of the word meaning “Love” but I remember, like it was yesterday, learning to conjugate the verb “To Love”:  Amo, Amas, Amat, Amamus, Amatus, Amant (I love, you love, he/she loves, etc.).  And, even though I memorized this, I don’t think I understood what it really meant as a verb, or an action word.  Instead, I lived my life for the next fifteen years taking for granted that it was only a feeling, a noun, not something to be done.

In fact, I’m embarrassed to say that I probably had not yet made that connection when I married my wonderful wife thirty-one years ago.  Love, to me, was a feeling, and any actions that could have been interpreted as love were probably more a result of trying to satisfy my own desires rather than hers. I was self-centered and immature into my early twenties. My only consolation is that most everyone my age was the same way.  All these years later, when I look around our world and examine its culture, it looks much the same to me.

Why is it this way?  Is it just a part of growing up?  Is it our culture?  Is it due to parenting in today’s society?  Do some parents work so hard to build the egos of their children that they become self-centered and live in a “me” world? 

With luck, young adults will have a unique defining moment that helps them to redefine what love means, that it’s an action word, a verb, and not just a feeling.

My defining moment didn’t happen with my marriage although I felt extreme love for my wife.  It wasn’t with the birth of my first child, either, although I had never felt new love like that before.  No.  It was the simple act of understanding the phrase, “Love is a verb”, that I read in a book by author Stephen Covey when I was trying to get control of my life during a very crazy period.  Quite simply, Covey wrote that if you want to feel more love, then you have to give more love.  Love is an action word.  It’s something you do.  What a novel idea for me at the time! 

Have you ever stopped to consider the idea of love being something you do, not just something you feel?

I like to think that, since then, I’ve grown up and learned a thing or two.  I wish I could somehow effectively teach teens, young adults, and others who’ve never before stopped to consider the concept, the definition of love as explained by C.S. Lewis in his book, Mere Christianity.  In his chapter on the theological virtue of Charity, Lewis writes,

“Charity means ‘Love, in the Christian sense’.  But love, in the Christian sense, does not mean an emotion.  It is a state not of the feelings but of the will; that state of the will which we have naturally about ourselves, and must learn to have about other people.  Christian Love for our neighbors is quite a different thing from liking or affection.  But, liking or [having] affection for people makes it easier to be charitable towards them.  Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did.  As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets.  When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love them.” 

And, I would like to explore with those students what St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans,

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.”  (Romans 12:10)

Fortunately for me, I was old enough for the meaning of ‘Love is a Verb’ to make some sense.  I started practicing this new idea.  Lo and behold, I noticed that my intentional efforts to do things to show my wife and children how much I loved them returned good results.  I felt more love from them.  But the biggest eye opener was something unexpected – the more I showed them love, the more love I felt for them.  The engineer that I am recognized this as exponential growth – a powerful thing.

How do you show love?  Have you received something in return which you never imagined would happen?

So, I rocked on for about twenty-five more years in this way, focusing on a loving relationship with those closest to me, my wife and four daughters, (who, I’m proud to say, are much more mature and responsible than I ever was at their age) and my extended family.  And, with just a few exceptions, that was about the extent of the loving in my life.  The people in that circle made up my world.  Oh, I had a few people I called friends, people at work and neighbors who I liked but they were not “loving” relationships under this new definition of love.

It has only been in the last 15 months, since my first Christ Renews weekend, that I’ve been able to truly extend my circle of love beyond my family.  Since then, my new extended family of my Catholic community has shown me example after example of love in action and I have been so blessed to have had opportunities to act with love for them, too.  And, over the last two weeks, I have felt God’s love, and Jesus’ presence next to me, more intensely than ever before.  I can’t help but believe there is a direct correlation between these feelings of love and peace, my time spent praying, and the reciprocating actions of love I have shared with family and friends.

Do you notice the noun version of “love” the more you practice the verb version of “love”?  Do you have an experience to share?

Good day and God Bless.

ASK A PRIEST – CAN ATHEISTS GO TO HEAVEN?

05 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by richbrewers in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Pope Francis

ASK A PRIEST – CAN ATHEISTS GO TO HEAVEN?

reposted from http://www.xt3.com

Image

I’m not sure I understand the remarks Pope Francis recently made about Athiests being redeemed as long as they’re good people and do good things. Doesn’t the bible clearly state that only those who believe in Christ have redemption?

Answer:

There is nothing new in what the Pope said. The Church has always taught that Christ redeemed the whole of humanity through his sacrifice on the Cross. Christ died for all. If you look at theCatechism it says:

“605 At the end of the parable of the lost sheep Jesus recalled that God’s love excludes no one: “So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”410 He affirms that he came “to give his life as a ransom for many”; this last term is not restrictive, but contrasts the whole of humanity with the unique person of the redeemer who hands himself over to save us.411 The Church, following the apostles, teaches that Christ died for all men without exception: “There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for whom Christ did not suffer.”412”

If you look at what the Pope said he merely affirmed what is in the Catechism.

Whether or not we accept this gift of our redemption then depends on our own decisions. The Church accepts that those who are not formal members can still acheive salvation, even though it is more difficult without the help of the sacraments and the guidance of Church teaching.

If you look at the last section of paragraph 19 of the Vatican II document Guadium et Spes it says that in some cases the lack of faith can in some cases be due to external factors that make it difficult for some to believe.

“Moreover, atheism results not rarely from a violent protest against the evil in this world, or from the absolute character with which certain human values are unduly invested, and which thereby already accords them the stature of God. Modern civilization itself often complicates the approach to God not for any essential reason but because it is so heavily engrossed in earthly affairs.

Undeniably, those who willfully shut out God from their hearts and try to dodge religious questions are not following the dictates of their consciences, and hence are not free of blame; yet believers themselves frequently bear some responsibility for this situation. For, taken as a whole, atheism is not a spontaneous development but stems from a variety of causes, including a critical reaction against religious beliefs, and in some places against the Christian religion in particular. Hence believers can have more than a little to do with the birth of atheism. To the extent that they neglect their own training in the faith, or teach erroneous doctrine, or are deficient in their religious, moral or social life, they must be said to conceal rather than reveal the authentic face of God and religion.”

Christ is indeed the only mediator and the Church is the means to salvation, but for those outside the Church salvation is still possible. This was explained in a document published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dominus Jesus. First, it affirms the role of Christ and the Church.

“20. From what has been stated above, some points follow that are necessary for theological reflection as it explores the relationship of the Church and the other religions to salvation.

Above all else, it must be firmly believed that “the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and baptism (cf. Mk 16:16; Jn 3:5), and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through baptism as through a door”.77 This doctrine must not be set against the universal salvific will of God (cf. 1 Tim 2:4); “it is necessary to keep these two truths together, namely, the real possibility of salvation in Christ for all mankind and the necessity of the Church for this salvation”.78″

Then, it explains how some can be saved even though they are not in the Church.

“For those who are not formally and visibly members of the Church, “salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church, but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation. This grace comes from Christ; it is the result of his sacrifice and is communicated by the Holy Spirit”;81 it has a relationship with the Church, which “according to the plan of the Father, has her origin in the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit”.82”

The pope didn’t go into much detail, but you need to take into account that his words came during the Gospel reflection at daily mass. He is giving these reflections as part of the mass and they are not formal declarations of Church teaching, with all the footnotes and doctrinal explanations, merely a brief exhortation based on the readings of the day.

Further Reading:

  • Click here for an explanation by Fr. Lombardi about the Pope’s daily homilies.

 

The Parable of the Lost Son – Part Two

02 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Confession, Prayer, Reconciliation, Renewal

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

God-moments, Golden Boy, Jason Gray, Parable of the Prodigal Son, Prayer, Reconciliation, Self-mercy

My last posting was about showing mercy to yourself and it was labeled Part One because I felt what I had to say was too long for one post.  My plan was to simply wait a week and post the remainder of it as Part Two.  But, things changed.  In the last week I have had some very thought provoking and inspiring conversation with a close friend who helped me work through some issues and, as a result of his caring and insight, I felt it necessary to revise what I had previously written.  It’s a little longer than I would have liked but I hope it’s worth your time to read it.

It seems this parable of Jesus’ won’t leave me alone.  I think that’s probably a sign I need it.  The author of Advent’s Little Blue Book, which I referenced in Part One, decided to write in the Lenten season’s Little Black Book on March 11, 2013 more about this parable.  This time he took a different approach.  He wrote:

             “Jesus composed the parable of the prodigal son because of complaints from the Pharisees and scribes that Jesus was welcoming sinners and eating with them.  Jesus was too easy on sinners, they said.  He celebrated with them.  His forgiveness was instantaneous; his spirit was warmth and joy.  It was okay for the Pharisees and scribes to let sinners reform….but they wanted them to crawl back.  Let them learn a lesson.  Let them stew for a while.  It’s no time for celebration – this is serious, grim business.  So Jesus put together a story in which the elder son ends up telling the father that he was too easy on the younger son.”

            “To appreciate the impact of Jesus’ parable, I need to see that Jesus is arguing about me.  That’s me the Pharisees and scribes are talking about – a sinner who is constantly forgiven and loved by God.  Someone is complaining that I have sinned before, and that my repentance is far from perfect.  Jesus knows my motives aren’t always perfect.  That’s why he told the parable of the Prodigal Son.  It describes my relationship with God in real life terms.”

In Part One, I asked whether you have ever done something that has left you shaking your head because, in hindsight, you realized it was either morally or ethically wrong, something that was way out of character for you but you did it anyway even though you knew it was wrong, or something that you have been trying not to do but it just happens without you thinking about it and you don’t yet know how to keep yourself from doing it?  In Jason Gray’s song The Golden Boy and the Prodigal, the last verse of which I quoted in Part One, he alludes to this situation this time in the first verse of the song1:

             There are two sides to every person, like the two sides of a dime

            Heads or tails it depends upon who’s watching at the time.

            Though I hate to say it mine is no exception,

            One part is the Prodigal, the other part deception.

I love those first two lines.  That’s me.  For example, if you asked a family member, a friend or two, and a couple co-workers what type of person I am, I’m sure you would get several different opinions.  Another example would be that I can keep a promise to someone else but often fail to keep promises to myself.  Generally, I’d say the person most people see in me is the Golden Boy, or the deception, and the person I see when I look in the mirror is the Prodigal.  And that’s what bothers me. 

Let me give you an example.  I’ve been trying to lose a little weight.  Well, a lot of weight actually but a little is a starting point.  I’ve told the people at my main office in Ohio of my intentions, I guess you could say they are pseudo accountability partners for me, and when I eat lunch there I’m usually pretty good about what I eat.  But, when I’m away from that office I find it easy to slip-slide and pig out without anyone the wiser.  A couple weeks before my baptism into the Church I was at our office in Indiana and I gave a presentation to a group of employees.  It was a stressful presentation and it ran up to lunch time.  They ordered pizza in for lunch and I ate most of a large pizza on my own before I hit the road.  As I was on my way out of town I passed a Dairy Queen and had an immediate urge for a Blizzard.  The marquee said the special was mint brownie chip.  A small wasn’t good enough so I got a medium sized one, instead.  It was darn good, too.  Then, about ten miles down the road it hit me what I had just done!  It was like I was on auto pilot or something.  The stress from the meeting drove the cravings and they drove the overindulgence.  Not until I relaxed was I cognizant of what had just taken place.  I found a section of road with a wide shoulder, I pulled over and I commenced giving myself a mental beating that was sure to have made the devil proud.  I had been praying every day for help and strength to get past the temptations and I promised myself and God that I would do better.  Up until this point I had been doing pretty well.  But this day I fell, and fell hard. I sat there in my car, consumed with remorse, praying for forgiveness, and I promised again that I would do better.  I was making myself “crawl back” just like the Pharisees would have me do.  And, unlike I suggested in Part One, I obviously had forgotten everything I had learned about showing mercy to myself.

In my pre-Catholic life things would happen every now and then that I would call coincidence.  But, in my new life I find myself looking for those instances and, because of that, they seem to happen much more frequently and with such clarity that I no longer believe them to be coincidences.  I believe they happen on purpose and I call them God-moments:  those times when God shows Himself in some unexpected way.  What would happen next was just one of those moments.

I collected myself and I put the car in drive, waited for the traffic to clear and I pulled back on the road.  I turned the car stereo on.  Now, I hadn’t listened to the stereo since sometime the previous day and wasn’t even sure what was in the CD player.  But, the very first words to come out of the speakers were these2: 

            Too long have I lived in the shadows of shame

            Believing that there was no way I could change

            But the one who is making everything new

            Doesn’t see me the way that I do

            I am not who I was, I am being remade

            I am new

            I am chosen and holy and I’m dearly loved

            I am new

            Forgiven beloved, hidden in Christ

            Made in the image of the Giver of Life

            Righteous and holy, reborn and remade

            Accepted and worthy, this is my new name

“The one who is making everything new doesn’t see me the way that I do…”.  Now, if that isn’t God talking to me with the very words I needed to hear at the very moment when I needed Him the most, I don’t know what is.  God wasn’t making me crawl back and he didn’t give me more time than I needed to stew on it, either.  Just like Jesus said.  And I didn’t waste any time in finding a place to pull back over and bow my head in prayer to offer my thanks to God for his love.

So, fast forward to this week and I was telling my friend about the stress I’ve been under lately, how I’ve not been living up to the promises I had made to myself, how I’m kicking myself over it, and about the dry spell in God-moments I’d been having.  I told him I wasn’t sure what it would feel like to be in such good grace that I would feel an overpowering contentment from God’s love.  My friend told me, “God loves you man.  God loves the good and bad about you.  No one is perfect.  God knows that, we are not perfect.  We all fall short and all sin…over and over again.  But, God is there always to guide us.  Look to God to help you, to change you, to better you as a person.  God loves you as you are, no matter what.  He knows you better than anyone and knows your sins.  The instant you confess your sins they are forgiven.  From there, let it go.  Let God help you work on yourself to be a better you.”  It was like my friend had just read that passage in the Little Black Book from March 11, and was paraphrasing it back to me.

So, I took a moment to pray for God to help me feel His love.  And it was then that I remembered that instance in the car when those song lyrics played and reassured me of His love.  I had forgotten that moment, that feeling.  My friend’s caring and faithful counsel brought it back to me.  It also reminded me of the need to show mercy to myself.  Plus, I hadn’t had a good God-moment in weeks and here I was getting a load of them dumped on me all at once.  Again, just what I needed to get me out of my funk.  I thank God for His love and the love of good friends.

Good night and God bless.

1.  The Golden Boy and the Prodigal, Jason Gray, ©2009 Centricity Music Publishing/ASCAP, from the CD Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue.

2.  I Am New, Jason Gray & Joel Hanson, ©2009 Centricity Music Publishing/ASCAP, Where’s Rocky Music/BMI, from the CD Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue.

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