Readings:
Malachi 3, 19-20, There will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.
Psalm 98, The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.
2 Thessalonians 3, 7-12, See what love the father has bestowed on us.
Luke, 21, 5-19, When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified.
Some Sundays the selection of readings are beautiful and touching. Some Sundays they are not. Such are our readings today as we come to the end of the church readings for this year.
Who is this little girl in John's arms welcoming everybody?
Observations on Malachi:
What: The very last book of the O.T. A little book, only 4 short chapters.
When: After the return of the Israelites from the Babylonian Captivity, therefore, the 5th century before Christ, i.e., ca 499 and before.
Message: because of laxity and corruption Malachi is warning the people that they will get punished again. Such is our reading today.
Getting ready: you put your left arm in, Buddy, you put your right arm down, and you shake it all around.
Thanksgiving I
With the approach of Thanksgiving, my favorite feast of all, I would like to talk about what I am grateful for on two occasions, this Sunday and next Sunday.
I want to talk today about what I am grateful for because it has been a rough, almost depressing week for me. Tuesday night, of course, was where it began. As the evening progressed I began to tell which way the wind was blowing.
Got it, show time.
As you know, by 9:00 I was ready to go to bed, but I was also tempted to stay up. Temptation. So as not to get wound up, I told Rosemary I was going to be as normal and would check in the morning. I went to bed consciously focusing on my blessings, and in the morning, despite the news, I continued. This focus really helped me to maintain perspective and hope for the future.
Want to know what the blessings were? Here are the big four.
Our Candle Man of The week, Buddy.
First, I was grateful for the relationship Rosemary & I have. Rosemary does not come to bed with me at 9:00, but she and Aviana are all snuggled in when I get up at 4:00. The gift of their presence on a cold morning is almost enough to make me change my mind about getting up.
The second blessing takes place when I get up. After doing some pushups and crunches at home, I head to the Jewish Community Center where I join 10 – 20 others doing spin class and then I work out in the gym for 15 minutes. In the winter I take a shower. I love the exercise and I love the congeniality. I know a bunch of people by name and even know a bunch of birthdays in my spin class. Guess what I do on their birthdays.
Congratulations to Cody and our dear Shonda (marriage).
Connected with the exercise at the J, I love the gift of White Rock Lake and my ability to be able to ride around it. Thursday or Friday The Lake was flat as glass, just beautiful.
Third blessing, you people, our community. Every Sunday I head home with Rosemary and sometimes Aviana on a high. The high continues through the afternoon when I am sorting through all the pictures for about 30 that I plug into the blog.
Hey, Leo, I am jealous of your glasses.
Fourth blessing. Thursday morning I was privileged to visit a guy’s mother who was just on the edge of moving to the other side. She was in one of the retirement homes on Plano Parkway. I went in. She was lying on her back in bed. Her eyes were open but she was oblivious. Occasionally she had like muscle spasms where she would kind of ball up.
I blessed her and then leaned down and caressed her cheek. I put my left hand under her hair and talked quietly to her. I heard the word mama once, so I started telling her her mama was coming for her.
The Best, Shonda & Ray
This went on for, say, 10-15 minutes. I had worn my white alb to give her peace. Then it happened. She focused and looked right into my eye. We looked consciously at each other maybe a foot apart. I continued to reassure her. Then she was gone again.
These are the daily blessings I focused on to maintain my normal inner peace.
Welcome Home, Norm, good to see you.
If you needed to, what did you do?
Welcome home, Kim and Dave, good having you in.