enough faith and love to return to the people who had captured and enslaved me, seeking not revenge but their highest good, their salvation? That is the real St. Patrick.
St. Patrick's Prayer…
I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.
I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me;
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s hosts to save me
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a multitude.
Christ shield me today
Against wounding
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through the mighty strength
Of the Lord of creation
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I know things seem unsettled…
in the world and in the church. I know that even those of us who are called to lead can have feet of clay and this can make complicated things seem disastrous.
Just follow Christ. Live as He wants you to live. Let His words be your hope, your guide, your filter to make sense of the whole crazy world. Everyone will fail you at one time or another, the things you counted on to make it through can be taken away in an instant. Life is fragile. Only Jesus can rise above the storm and say “peace be still.”
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There are heroes…
and the story can be found here.
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Buddy Hayes…
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Among the treasures…
of growing older is the appreciation of spring. Winter, the plaything of a child, seems to grow longer with the years, colder, and harder on the soul. When the snow begins to melt, not the false melt of late January but the melting days of March when the sun and time guarantee the results, there is a sense of relief that grows over the years. The earth warms, and the human soul with it. The days are longer and life itself seems to extend, shaking off the gray and white and putting on green and all the colors of the sun.
As a child I noticed very little of all of this. I was glad to get out and play, of course, but the larger significance passed me by. Spring is resurrection, the putting off the cold, the dying, the worn out, the tired, and its replacement with tender shoots of life. Within in it is a taste of the deepest human longings and the destiny we wish we hadn’t abandoned in Eden. It seems so much more apparent now. Perhaps its because as you get older the idea of seeds lying in the ground, abiding alone, awaiting the warmth of the world to bring them back to life seems so much more relevant.
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Our technology is remarkable…
but for those who trust in it alone the recent events in Japan are sobering. Even the best we can do is still subject to the power of the creation from which it emerges and every so often we’re reminded of this. Put not your trust in princes, the Scripture says, even, perhaps, the princes of technology.
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The only blessing…
in everything that’s happened in Japan is that Charlie Sheen has been knocked off the public stage, at least for now. It’s amazing what the human mind can focus on when left to idleness in the illusion of prosperity.
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What would happen…
if there were no sports on TV, no football on Sunday afternoon? Well there would probably be shock at first but soon enough people would move past the bread and circuses and discover, life. The NFL and other major sports leagues should consider that after an early, painful, withdrawal people will wake up from the daze and come to remember that professional sports are just entertainment, nothing that truly matters is attached to them and those people sitting on the couch next to you are actually your children.
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Lord help me…
give you the benefit of the doubt, the same benefit I give to my family and friends and people at work and sometimes even strangers on the street but somehow I find myself failing to give to you. Amen.
