The Gifts of Christmas: The Gift of Peace, 12/21/14

Sermon 12-21-14 The gifts of Christmas -  peace  Luke 2:8-14 KJV

⁸ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. ¹⁰ And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ¹⁴ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Series- the gifts of Christmas

The welcome – Love – Joy - Peace

The progression of love joy and peace

Christmas Card - Peas on earth, gouda wheel, two men                    PICTURE

We are busy people.  Somewhere along the way, we will find time to sit down by the Christmas tree and take a deep breath. There is a peace that comes to our souls. 

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  Mt 11:29

Do we enjoy peace?  There are so many activities. 

my kids requested a new kind of Christmas this year.  Smaller

the  joy we have found in helping strangers

Like to talk today about personal peace and world peace..lets start w world

As a race we are not very good at peace

in the entire recorded history, dating back 2000 years before Christ; that would be something over 4000 years, there has only been about 292 years of peace in the world.   They estimate that there have been more than 14,000 wars and as many as 3.6 billion people killed. 

Trip to Washington DC- I was impressed

Peace medals – treaties broken                                          PICTURE

There is much fighting in the world 

We are fighting the Taliban - The Russians are fighting the Ukrainians

The Palestinians and the Israelis are fighting - The Sudanese are fighting each other - Isis is fighting everyone

Why?  We want your land. We don’t like u.  We want a world with u gone.

You won’t do it our way.

There is something that we want bad enough to kill you

Regarding world peace there is a thought that I take comfort in about jesus

An interesting thing that I believe about Jesus

He is not just ours.  not just a Methodist, Presbyt or an American Jesus

We think of Jesus as being ours, or belonging to our denomination.  Methodist Jesus.  American Jesus.

Jesus is global.  Universal.

When he comes back, it is peace to all

All nations will come to the holy mountain Isaiah 2:2 Micah 4:2

2 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:² In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills and all nations will stream to it. ³ Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,     to the temple of the God of Jacob.  He will teach us his ways,    so that we may walk in his paths.”  The law will go out from Zion,     the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He will judge between the nations     and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares    and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation,  nor will they train for war anymore.

War, striving and stress come from wanting things

And wanting things to go our way

Do you want to find peace, let go of the thing

Story of the two monks that never fought
There were two monks who lived together for forty years and never argued. Not even once.
On day, one said to the other
Don't you think it's time we had an argument, at least once?
The other monk said, fine, let's start. What shall we argue about?
How about this piece of bread, said the first monk.
Okay, fine. Let's argue about the bread. How will we do it? Said the second.
The first said, this bread is mine. It belongs to me.
The second said, well, if it is, then take it.

our lives are fast paced, heart pounding, go go go go

The postcard that I found in the dickens book vs an email today

in our lives the adrenalin is flowing and the ears are ringing with the jarring sounds of home and work.

It is hard to contemplate the Cross of Christ

we need to Stop the unrelenting schedules in our brain
Stop it. Cut back on activities. Get some air into your life, your soul.
Reduce the external forces - make room for the internal forces

NFM ropes……..all tied up- worried about it

I want to be sure of employment

I want things to run smoothly at church

I want to fix that relationship

I don’t want my great grandma to die

I don’t want to die

          Did I think that I was going to live for ever?

We have to learn to let go and trust God

Healthy people tell others and themselves

relax… everything is ok

It is the work of the Holy Spirit

All is well

We can’t think about two things at the same time

We can be consumed with worry or we can let go of whatever & trust God

We can hold on to one, but not both

Interesting how we try to force god to fix things the way that we want them.

Serenity prayer – long version

God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, Taking, as Jesus did, This sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it, Trusting that You will make all things right, If I surrender to Your will, So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with You forever in the next.  Amen.

An Interesting scripture   isaiah 26:3 NKJV

You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on u, Because he trusts in u

Jesus life begins and ends with a message of peace

Peace on earth, goodwill to men and women

After his resurrection Jesus in jn 20- breathes on them. 

peace be unto you

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.  ²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is still breathing a message of peace to all who would hear

To all who would draw near

You want the peace?

Let go of the worries, let go of the stuff and seize upon the heart of our God

Merry Christmas

The Gifts of Christmas: The Gift of Joy, 12/14/14

Sermon 12-14-14 the gifts of Christmas - The gift of joy  Romans 5:1-8 NIV

5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we^[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we^[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us

introduction

The gifts of Christmas

Week three: the gift of joy

Why this scripture.  Not really a Christmas one? It is joyful – to me.

Because real joy is a spiritual thing

One of my favorites.

1.   While we were still sinners Christ died……

2.   We have a hope- the love of god is spread out in our hearts

Last week we talked about love

Today lets talk about joy

List of joys of Christmas

Joy to the world

Mary pondered a new baby

When the wise men saw the star they rejoiced with great joy

While sheperds watched their flocks by nite glad tidings told an angel bright

How great their joy

Christmas is full of joy

Christianity is full of joy Gal 5²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control.

Spirituality is not measured by whether or not we get our way.

Love, joy, peace, patience

Happiness vs. joy

The difference between happiness and joy

Happiness is dependent on circumstances

Mary and the baby……….

Mary is 9 months pregnant.  She has been riding a donkey for days, she is engaged to a poor man, she is about to give birth in a stable.  Nothing joyful about this.

The baby is the son of God

Joy is found by those who find something deeper to trust.  Something that transcends how its going

The shepherds saw the baby and went back to their old life……
 glorifying and praising God
the wise men saw the baby and started their long journey back - rejoicing with exceeding great joy

Mary pondered all of these things

Joy is a very deeply spiritual thing

1.   While we were still sinners Christ died……

2.   We have a hope- the love of god is spread out in our hearts

Happy = short term

Joy = deeply significant

I got kissed- short term

What it means- I am loved, deeply significant

Joy runs much deeper.

It can be accompanied by good circumstances, but it is something you can have regardless of circumstances.

The twins at ChristmasA family had two sons. One was an optimist, the other an incurable pessimist. To see whether this was due to heredity or environment, the parents decided to perform an experiment. They placed the pessimist in a room full of brand new toys and left him there for half an hour. Then they left the optimist in the garage, where they had just unloaded a dump truck of horse manure.

Thirty minutes later they opened the door to the first room and saw their son crying his eyes out in the corner. “What’s the matter,” cried the mother, “can’t you see all those wonderful toys?” “Yes,” the boy replied, “but if I play with the Yo-Yo over there it might cut off the circulation in my finger, and if I play with that skateboard I might fall off and scrape my knee, and if I play with that football it might hit me in the eye!”

Then the parents went out to the garage to check on their other son. When they opened the door they saw him digging through the horse manure in an ecstasy of joy and delight. “What in the world are you doing?” exclaimed the surprised father. The boy looked up at his parents and, with a big smile, said, “I just know there’s a pony in here somewhere!”

Lavonne

Wow, if people had any idea what you have had to live through

No, I would love to tell people about the things that I have had the joy of experiencing in life

Joy is much talked about…..
Few people actually have it

Turn up the heat and you will see who is grounded in faith and who is depending on the circumstances of life

It is not measured immediately

You might not leave church today ecstatic w joy

We all have our moments

Sanctification is a process

My trip to lowes yesterday………

Lets talk about some pictures of  joy.

I was invited to an open house.  Someone wanted me

At the open house they acted excited to see me

That feels good, way down deep.

Pets can bring you joy.

We have two cats, cats are about themselves

But a good dog………..

My daughter has a new dog.  G-dog.  George.

We end up watching him a lot.

When I call his name he runs to me like I am the greatest thing in the world.

When you know you are loved, it feels very joyful

catching up with an old friend…….

restoring a broken relationship

When you are lost and found

Alli comes home from Chicago

Becky and pam Dittmer meet us at the airport

Royals in the wildcard game

Something is going my way

Something of deep significance

How to find joy

We find joy when we stop wanting stuff……..

Shoes and tvs, but also to stop wanting things to go our way

some things we manage, some things are out of our control

we would like to be the boss of the world

this allows us to see the good and rest in the good that is here around us

and when we see the good that is, we can be grateful…….

Thankfulness is such a joyful thing

Conclusion

Bill belcher is dying.

A good man.  A Christian man.  He knew where he was going.

Many talk s about faith

Even in the pain of losing a loved one, there is a joy for a life well lived.

The joy is a release.  A release from worldy affairs.

Remember the treasure in the field mt 13

Joy is like a treasure in the field………waiting for you to find it

Joy is A launch! We are in! accepted among the brethren.  Shepherds were in.  joy to the world.  Eyes leak at the thought of being accepted.  Gold frankinsense and mud.  God accepts our mud.  Joy propels us to live as new people.

Finally let me speak of joy in Christ.

Life is up, life is down, life is whatever……………

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us

Joy

Possibly the  greatest source of joy in live is to be accepted and loved by that person that is most significant to you

if you are a child and you are in trouble, to be welcomed by mom or dad

if you have had a hard day at work and you go home and your wife loves you.

Nothing better than that.

At Christmas, God our father, the most significant one, tells us that we are loved, for he has sent his son into the world to love us, forgive us and die for us….

We are all looking for that thing.  The fountain of youth.  The buried treasure.  When the Christmas story sinks in, we find that we have a smile, not only on our face but also deep within our hearts.  The brokenness is resolved.  We know why we are here.  we rise from the Christmas experience with lives that are full.

The Gifts of Christmas: The Gift of Love, 12/7/14

Sermon 12-7-14 The gifts of Christmas-The gift of love

John 3:16-17 NIV

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Our series- the gifts of Christmas - Today – Love

Love joy peace – sound so droll and boring

Advent candles – love, joy, peace, hope

          Shepherds Wise-men angels – Santa

Love joy peace – sound so droll and boring

Really is anything more amazing than love

Do you remember the first time that someone said it to you…….i love u

We are on a life journey seeking it

Go dog go……..do you like my hat?

It is desperately needed

Love means I want you

Un love means I reject you

Some churches preach a message of eternal rejection -  you are out

You are bad

Grew up not feeling loved - I wasn’t wanted

Boys town. – when someone knows that you love them… they chage

The frog and prince- every one of us needs to know that we are loved

Songs about love

There are a bunch

Love came down at Christmas

Light of the world, shine on me, love is the answer

Country songs……..

There is a little pressure to find love

Our biological clocks tick

In seminary they said that they dogs and kids better love you when you go to visit the folks

Our first attempt to love others often begins at Christmas. 

Shopping when I was 19 at the campus bookstore

First time we bought others gifts.  How that made us feel. 

We hear talk of C and E Christians.  Don't knock them. 

it is a place to start.  Love is contagious, it is transformative. 

It causes an increasing desire to be apart of what God is doing.  

While we were yet sinners...we were loved. 

Dave Hackett’s story of being kicked out of school, and his father’s words.

The most powerful thing in the world is love. 

It has healed many a brokenness. 

It is the soul’s purpose in this world, to love. 

At Christmas we find that we are loved by god. 

Many of our 1st attempts to live a life of love sprang out of Christmas

And Love is all around us

Melody porters wedding - friends – welcome of a friend

Jessica Muller’s reception w my kids

Police called to Longview lake

My kids love me

Julie’s wedding

Love is intuitive

You can tell if someone loves you

If they are capable of it or not

We like hanging around with people that love us

Christmas is about God’s love

Jn 3:16

An obscure Christmas passage

But Christmas is about love, first and foremost

Love.  God so loved the world – he sent his son

He restored the relationship

He broke the enmity.

What is enmity?

How we experience it and live with it

How delightful it is when it is broken and relationships are restored

Christmas is about Incarnation – God with us

What if we stop talking about Christianity as a “let’s leave”

And instead think in terms of – let’s go here and now, in god’s world

Incarnation –

Jesus didn’t come to take us out – he came to be with us and to live with us

We should do the same – investing in one another

Love.  You are loved.  Our lives ideally are about loving others.

God’s love is amazing

Dave mentioned last week– tie a yellow ribbon- ribbons everywhere

Love is indiscriminate

          The shade of a tree

          The light of a lamp

          The smell of a rose

How delightful it is to know that we are accepted.  Welcomed - Wanted

The gift of a friend, The love of a pet - the gift of love

Conclusion

Christmas –

We are so easily beguiled by society,

by marketing; it seems shallow because it is

But the real message of Christmas is still amazing

Remember when someone said, I love you?

It is possibly the most powerful moment of our lives

What do we say to our loved ones when they are dying?

I love you

Imagine that the last words you hear on this earth are, I love you.

No longer being blasted by junk mail, TV ads or email begging us to go spend money

The last words We hear are the message clear and clean- I love you

I love you.

God so loved the world.

Merry Christmas.  It is yours for the embracing.  God so loved the world.

We Give Thanks: See What We Mean, 11/23/14

Sermon 11-23-14 we give thanks – witness and wanting things []

1 thess 5:18 ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 tim 6:8 ⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

Intro

Series- we give thanks

Sermon was about helping others be thankful – sharing the gift

Now it has some added stuff – gratitude and contentment

Life is a gift

Life is a privilege

are we using it as we should

To teach gratitude

You must teach it to yourself

Practice it

Model it

Speak it into others

It is a great witness –

Grow in it

Get better at it

Witness

An important part of our faith –

prayers presence gifts service and witness

we are not so good at this……we are better at it than we think

The scary way

The amazing way

Preach the gospel, when necessary, use words

Cards to be handed out to friends….

What to say……..we have been talking about being thankfulllll……. Its so joyful…….

Your words are powerful

The power of thank you

Gratitude

Nic trip.  pictures

What we can learn from them………….

We have so much to be thankful for

We should want less

We should give more

We should be grateful

Why gratitude is right

It honors god

Jesus is Lord

It helps us live lives in perspective

By keeping our focus on him off of things

Wanting more robs you of the chance to enjoy and celebrate today

It robs you of the attitude of gratitude

Luke 12:27-31

²⁷ “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ²⁸ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! ²⁹ And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. ³⁰ For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

The pagans weren’t evil, they were the normal people, those not seeking real spirituality

Contentment

Results are

Peace.  Happiness

A new monk asked the abbot -How does one attain happiness?

By learning to be content with whatever one gets

Then you shouldn’t want anything?

Yes, one can want, said the abbot, provided that one has the attitude of a nervous father I once met in the delivery ward.  When the nurse said, I know you were hoping to get a boy, but it’s a baby girl, the man replied, oh it doesn’t matter really because I was hoping that if it wasn’t a boy, it would be a girl.

Phil 4:10-13

¹⁰ I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Its not about you accomplishing your life goals.  Although god may want that.  It is about you wanting god, not stuff

Life was never about us getting what we want.  Life was always about us being alive.

Loving god and others…….

Sheryl crow

Every time I turn around - I'm looking up, you're looking down
Maybe something's wrong with you - That makes you act the way you do

Life is not having what you want
It's wanting what you've got

I'm gonna soak up the sun - Gonna tell everyone  To lighten up
I've got no one to blame -For every time I feel lame -I'm gonna soak up the sun

Its not about more stuff

Remember the whos in whoville in the Grinch?

They lost all their presents but they were still singing

You want to be grateful, want god

Conclusion

The artists of life-

I was reading an author who spoke of the greatest artists in the world.  They do not work with paints or clay.  They do not carve stone.  Without brush, hammer, clay or guitar, they have learned to see the good, to see the joy and to embrace it.  Their lives are an art.  Whatever they touch absorbs some of the goodness from their outlook and their soul.  They are the artists of being alive.

The milk bottle – read it on pg 33

A story from "Attitudes of Gratitude" by M.J. Ryan

"Last night I watched my daughter Ana, whom we recently adopted from China, lie on the bed in an ecstatic trance of bottle-sucking. Her eyes closed, her rosebud mouth pulsed, her exquisitely long fingers curled around the plastic bottle, she gave herself over to the experience. She wasn't obsessing on past wounds, although perhaps she had a right to. Neglected for over a year, when we got her she had second-degree burns on her buttocks from lying in urine. Nor was she worrying about where future bottles might come from, although she had a right to do that also. Abandoned on Christmas evening on a cold street until someone heard her newborn cries, she had been fed only watered-down milk and seemed to be starving the first few weeks we fed her.

Rather, she was so focused on appreciating the warm milk as it went down her throat that everything else, past and future, simply disappeared. As I looked at her, I realized that being totally and completely absorbed in the present moment is an experience that is available to us all when we choose to let gratitude wash over us without inhibition.

Dear friends, I am thankful for you.

Let us be the artists of life

Thank you for being on this journey with me

We Give Thanks: It's Everywhere You Want to Be, 11/16/14

SERMON 11-16-14 we give thanks   Genesis 28:10-17

¹⁰ Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. ¹¹ When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. ¹² He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ There above it^[c] stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. ¹⁴ Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.^{[d] 15} I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

¹⁶ When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

The series is “We Give Thanks”

I want to thank Karen schuler for covering for me…………….

The sermon title is visa- “Its everywhere you want to be”

Jacob is not a good guy

Jacob steals the birth right

Jacob steals the blessing

He and his brother aren’t doing so well

In a few chapters he is going to wrestle with an angel and have a come to jesus with his brother

The personal confrontation with his brother

Imagine a moment in which you will have to give account for everything that you have done

Bernie madoff.

Most of us don’t have to do that in this life, but we all do in the next

As one of my friends told me the other day, none of us leaves this place alive.

So imagine you are going to be called into court and held accountable

And the judge and jury is the person that you have violated repeatedly

For Jacob, it is his brother essau

But that is a few chapters away

Jacob is not a good guy.  Jacob the conniver

He is also a believer

God loves the broken

God answers people when they call

That night he has a dream – angels ascending and descending

When it is all over

God was here and I did not know it.

God was here and I was unaware.  God was here and I was asleep.

In a moment in he deserved only bad news

God was there

He had let his fears overtake him, but God was there

We think that the trouble of the moment is the news

But the news is that God is with us

Today I am not suggesting that you act like Jacob

I hope you don’t.

But I do want to invite you to understand this-

At the very times that we are completely self consumed

God is there, and god is waiting.

He was there.  we just didn’t know it.

We are asleep

A man knocks on his son's door. "Jaime", he says, "wake up"! Jaime answers, "I don't want to get up. Papa". The father shouts, "Get up, you have to go to school". Jaime says, "I don't want to go to school". "Why not"? asks the father. "Three reasons", says Jaime. "First, because it's so dull; second, the kids tease me; and third, I hate school". And the father says, "Well, I am going to give you three  reasons why you must go to school. First, because it is your duty; second, because you are forty-five years old, and third, because you are the teacher".

Completely oblivious

Russian Winters –

When they were drawing up the Russian-Finnish border, the farmer had to decide whether he wanted to be in Russia or Finland. After a long time he said he wanted to be in Finland, but he didn't want to offend the Russian officials. These came to him and wanted to know why he wanted to be in Finland. The farmer replied, "It has always been my desire to live in Mother Russia, but at my age I wouldn't be able to survive another Russian winter".

Spirituality is Subtraction –

"God is not attained by a process of addition to anything in the soul, but by a process of subtraction".

Henry & John – Page 28

We all have our positions, don't we? And we listen from those positions. "Henry, how you've changed! You were so tall and you've grown so short. You were so well built and you've grown so thin. You were so fair and you've become so dark. What happened to you, Henry"? Henry says, "I 'm not Henry. I 'm John". "Oh, you changed your name too!" How do you get people like that to listen?

Have you ever been so consumed by your own stuff that you miss it?

Do we look for things that reinforce what we already believe or are we ready to look at the world in a different way?

Thomas Aquinas lived in 1200’s in – Three Ways to Know God –

 (1) in the creation, (2) in God's actions through history, and (3) in the highest form of the knowledge of God - to know God as the unknown).

Creation theology

I have a friend Larry Jay - from redwood glen

Franciscan spirituality                                                 PICTURE

Tozer’s work on this.

Vs pantheism

Focused on achievement vs living.  Worry instead of God

Archer –

"When the archer shoots for no particular prize, he has all his skills; when he shoots to win a brass buckle, he is already nervous; when he shoots for a gold prize, he goes blind, sees two targets, and is out of his mind. His skill has not changed, but the prize divides him. He cares! He thinks more of winning than of shooting, and the need to win drains him of power". Isn't that an image of what most people are? When you're living for nothing, you've got all your skills, you've got all your energy, you're relaxed, you don't care, it doesn't matter whether you win or lose.

Enjoy –

In the 1970s, President Carter appealed to the American people to go in for austerity. I thought to myself He shouldn't tell them to be austere, he should really tell them to enjoy things. Most of them have lost their capacity for enjoyment.

Places where I have seen God recently, and I am thankful……

In things

Rocks

Trees

In memory - Embarrassing moments - lipstick

Humor

In thoughts

Special spiritual thoughts

Common thoughts that don’t seem spiritual but are

Thoughts that make me uneasy

Thoughts that make me normal

Thoughts that teach me

In relationships

Friends - Watching a friend comfort another

Watching a mentor care for his charge

Pain – drags us kicking and screaming into real life

Christopher and shae sipes Halloween gift                             PICTURE

The homeless man on the cnr of myer and james r Watkins

Conclusion

Are you looking for God? Are you looking for something to be thankful for

The fish is in the ocean looking for water

The Japanese have a nice way of putting it "The day you cease to travel, you will have arrived.”

We work too hard at living instead of living.

When you have found the simplicity of seeing God everywhere, you have what you need.

When you see God everywhere, gratitude pops to the top

He Found the Right Note –

One day a monk was strumming a guitar, playing just one note. After a while a crowd collected around him (this was in a marketplace) and one of the men sitting on the ground there said, "That's a nice note you're playing. friar, but why don't you vary it a bit the way other musicians do"? "Those fools", the monk said, "they're searching for the right note. I've found it.

prayer

Dear Father let me be aware of the treasure of every normal day.  Let me learn from this day, love this day, and bless this day before it departs.  Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so.  Thank you for the gift of you O Father.  Help our hearts to be truly grateful.