The 36-Hour Day

Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are thy ways.  Who going through the vale of misery use it for a well, and the pools are filled with water.  Psalm 84:5,6

My dad died suddenly six weeks ago.  Capable, joyful, caring - he made everything okay for those around him and lived his life helping people.  He was my mom's heart, mind and source of normal living.  She has Alzheimer's disease.

"I recommend you place her tomorrow in a residential care facility," said someone from a home care agency. 

"Your first job is to see to the care of your mother.  You need to find an assisted living facility for her," said the attorney. 

"Keep your mother at home where she is comfortable," said one of the African aides that I interviewed. 

"Are you putting me in a nursing home?" my mother questioned angrily when my sister and I toured some residential living communities.  Mom can't remember what day it is and will put on two different shoes, but her emotional impressions remain largely accurate.  That is what makes the decision so hard.

Bottom line, I am the one who has to make this decision about my mother. Nobody else.  And my heart bleeds for her.

Prayer:  Lord, show me Your well and the pools that are filled with water as I go through this vale of misery.  Please let mom feel cared for and loved.  Protect her and give me Your Wisdom.  Amen. 

Power Came Forth

And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came forth from him and healed them all.  [Luke 6:19 RSV]

The phrase "Wise men still seek Him," rings true here.  Tired and sick we often are and we look for ways to touch Jesus. 

Some ways that I am able to touch him:  Reading the scriptures, praying (especially at an Adoration Chapel), and receiving Communion which is the ultimate oneness with Christ.

Dear Lord, I seek to touch you.  Send Your power.  Bring healing.  

Mother's Day

We went through fire and water, and thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.      
 [Psalm 66:11]

A double celebration today of Mother's Day and a graduation.  Thank you, Lord. 

Psalm 124 says it best:


If the Lord himself had not been on our side, now may Israel say; if the Lord himself had not been on our side, when men rose up against us;

They had swallowed us up alive; when they were so wrathfully displeased at us.

Yea, the waters had drowned us, and the stream had gone over our soul.

The deep waters of the proud had gone even over our soul.

But praised be the Lord, who hath not given us over for a prey unto their teeth.

Our soul is escaped even as a bird out of the snare of the fowler; the snare is broken, and we are delivered. 

Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord, who hath made heaven and earth.  [Psalm 124]


Praise be to God forever.                                                                                                    

Aging

Wisdom from Clara - my elderly prayer partner who happens to be legally blind and virtually lame but who sees beyond this world and scales mountains with her prayers:

"Close relatives especially as they grow old can be especially difficult.  I remember taking a class taught by Tony Campolo at Eastern.  He said that some older people become very difficult because in the background they envision that soon death will come like a discordant note over and over again in a symphony.  If a person is fighting death, chances are that they are fighting everyone else.  They want desperately to live.  The oddity is that they often deprive younger people of the joy of living.  

Although I still miss my mother terribly, it was such a blessing when she said to me a few days before she died, 'I have absolutely no fear of death.  Jesus is my God and my all!'   As for some elderly people, I'm sure that they are angry and feel as though they are no longer in control.  The truth is that we never are.  We are blessed if we can lay all our problems at the foot of the Cross."

Blessed Are They That Mourn

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they look on Him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps for a first-born. [Zechariah 12:10]

The beauty of the Old Testament prophecy. 

Lord, during this Holy Week. give us a spirit of compassion and supplication.  Cause us to look upon You who was pierced.  Allow us to mourn for You and weep bitterly for You. 

A Troubled Spirit

The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, shalt thou not despise.  [Psalm 51:17]

How does our inner spirit respond during hard times?  Do we get angry and become bitter towards God?  Or do we allow the pain and difficulty to do a good work within us?  

A troubled spirit.  A broken heart.  Good things?  Apparently they are, in God's eyes.  

In the passion of my Maker, be my sinful soul partaker; may I bear with her my part; of His passion bear the token, in a spirit bowed and broken bear His death within my heart.  Amen.

God is Kind

A broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.  [Psalm 51:17b]

GOD IS KIND.

Why is there so much suffering?  We never will know this side of heaven.  But in the midst of all the pain and difficulties, I have seen the kindness of God over and over.  His daily kindness shows itself through impressions we get while reading scripture, or in prayer, and through the love of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Kindness does not force itself upon another person.  Likewise, God waits for us to come to Him.  It is through our seeking of Him that we experience His kindness.  When the heart shows itself open to the Lord, living water will be there to sustain us.