Once we have seen…

adventHappy Thanksgiving! I hope that many of you have just enjoyed the gathering and comfort of family and Thanksgiving. And just as we are in that soft afterglow of family and friends, with Christmas scenery and music serenading our senses, we hope this good spirit can be sustained for the next 30 days. If only we could jump straight to Christmas. I mean, why not? All the stores have made the jump, the malls are decorated, and everything about our secular world tells us to race ahead to the finish line, get it all done, get ready for Christmas, buy your gifts – the finish line is there for the crossing. Continue reading

Mindfulness

The angled image of Hurricane Charley was take...Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.” (Luke 12:37).

The underlying Greek word “vigilant” is also used in the parable of the “Wise and Foolish Virgins” who fall asleep when the bridegroom is coming.  It is the same root word used when Jesus admonishes the apostles sleeping the in Garden of Gethsemane.  These and other passages always bring out the worry wart in me.  People, good people, at the gate to the wedding banquet, present with the Lord while he prays – and they are asleep, not paying attention, or distracted. What about me? Am I wasting time, working on the wrong things? Am I asleep at the switch, or unprepared and without a clue? Am I vigilant about my faith? Hmm…, am I vigilant about my faith? Continue reading