Tag Archives: God

A Brave Ant

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Johnny is a hard working ant, and that is high praise given that all ants are known to be hard working; however Johnny always seemed to be at the front of the line when the bread crumb is found. 

“Here it is,” Johnny would scream from the front of the column, “I found the bread crumb!”  Of course, ants don’t really scream because they don’t even talk, but if any could, Johnny would be the first.  Each morning Johnny would set out from the colony in search of nourishment, because there were 40,000 ants to feed and it was Johnny’s job, along with 39,998 other ants, to find the food for the day.  Johnny took his responsibility to his family and friends seriously.

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Changes

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Dear Journal,

I lived through another night.  Funny, just a few years ago not living for any reason wasn’t something that I considered.  Now, with all that has happened over the last 24 months, just being alive is a miracle.  Although what I am doing isn’t really living…it is existing until I don’t anymore.  If this journal survives, maybe it will help someone smarter than I am understand what has happened.  I am not really sure.

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God Needs:

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God needs:

Our love

Our respect

Our service

Our praise

Our discipline

Our hope

Our dreams

Our support

Our anger

Our fears

Our trust

Our sacrifice

Our attention

To love us

To guide us

To help us

To mentor us

To be our Father

To support us

To fulfill His dreams for us

To calm our fears

To give peace to our anger

To sacrifice Himself first

We Need:

God

We need to have goals and dreams, for ourselves, family and friends; it is a vital part of being human that God placed in each of us.  We need jobs, homes, vacations, food, transportation, clothing, value, friendship: all off these things are also a part of life.  First though, before all else – we need God.  He needs us, too.

Thanks for reading.

The Second Sin

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Most of us try to be first; first in that “over 40 year old 5K race,” first to get the promotion, first in line at the theater, first on line to buy concert tickets, first to get the view of the morning sunrise, first in your college graduating class, or first to get control of the TV remote.  Being first has been a preoccupation with humankind, from the beginning of the Olympic games where we proved who was best at some sport, to the first to file a patent so we can lay claim to ownership of a design or idea.  It is a natural human condition to want to be first, with a few notable exceptions: the first to die, the first to pay taxes, the first to sin.  The reasoning behind not wanting to die first is obvious, and no one enjoys paying taxes so why do it first?  To sin is to willingly separate from God, so why be first at something so bad?   The initial sin is almost expected, because we all fall short of perfection, but the second sin is by choice – after observing or doing it once, we with full knowledge do it again. So maybe, it is better to be the first sinner, rather than the second. Perhaps the first sin is not the worst, but it is the second sin that we all must avoid.

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Once Upon A Time…

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    Once upon a time, in a land not very far away there was a small town, nestled in brown rolling hills and oak trees, inhabited with mostly happy people who got along with each other and with neighboring cities.  Gardens were planted, golf was played, churches attended, businesses thrived, and many a feast was eaten; that is until the day of the great let down.  On that day the banks, money changers, manipulators, and Federal Regulators let everyone down: and so the Great Recession began.  Every town had lived through recessions in the past, but nothing had been seen in decades like the Great Recession.  Where once flowers had grown on the land between the lanes of traffic now stood people with cardboard signs asking for work or food.  Stores, restaurants and shops all over the land closed their doors, leaving many people without a way to care for their family.  When people could not pay their mortgage, the same banks from the great let down threw the people to the street.  Families cried, asking their leaders for help. 

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Sag Mir, Wo Die Blumen Sind?

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This German folk tune, later sung by a host of musicians including Peter, Paul, and Mary, asks a very good question in its title; “Where have all the flowers gone?”   Throughout the song, the songwriter misplaces a multitude of people and things – I used to sing this song in my eighth grade German class.   Listening to the tune brought back a memory of the last time I “lost” my keys.  All of us have lost our keys, books, wallet or purse, only to find the missing artifact in some obvious place a few moments, or hours later.  We are amazed to think that we could have overlooked during our frantic search a set of keys sitting on the kitchen table.   Could the keys have become invisible for two hours, and then just reappeared?  Is there a wormhole to a distant universe in my kitchen?  Or maybe, when we lose, or temporarily misplace something, it is because we have forgotten where ‘it’ came from and how to find ‘it’ once it has become missing?

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Your Next Good Read

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I had just finished reading a book, one of those political thrillers where one tough good guy overcomes a government of corruption (if it were only true), so I was searching for my next book to read.  I wanted a book with more action, but at the same time historically significant and spiritually/emotionally fulfilling.  I wanted my next good read to matter.  Most importantly, I wanted to learn something important.  Like many of us, I read the first sentence of the first chapter to get an idea of the story. Here is what I found.

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Unbroken Glass

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Dreams are a fickle animal.  Not the dreams we have while sleeping, although the two can definitely be related, but the dreams we have for our future, or that of a spouse or child.  Dreams are the building blocks of the road that goes up; they’re the yellow bricks that lead to a sunset over a flower filled hill.  Dreams sustain hope, and draw our lips to smile when the circumstances that surround us would dictate otherwise.  A house, a new car, a college diploma, a promotion; these are common dreams, but so are peace, serenity, contentment, belonging, acceptance, and love.  The fulfillment of some dreams then can be seen and touched, being made of wood, stone and steel.  Other dreams are as ghosts, invisible to the eye, but real to the heart and mind.  Hard as a rock or light as air, dreams are a powerful creator of emotions, turning light into darkness, and back again as quickly as a thought.  The importance of having and holding a dream in the context of a full life cannot be overvalued, so then dreams must be carefully constructed and stored in a fortified space, protected from the harsh elements of today. 

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A Good and Great Man

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A longtime friend left for Heaven a few weeks back.  He had lived a long and fruitful life, positively influencing the lives of many and rarely asking anything in return.  He gave much – much more than he got, but that is how he wanted it.  He is missed because we cannot see him anymore, but his touch on our hearts and minds; the memories of laughter, of intelligent discussion and political debate are now integral to our DNA.  A part of us left when he did, because we are a mixture of ourselves and the people we love and who love us. The essence of my life is the sum of what God does, what I do, and what I absorb from friends and family.  So, some of me left when he did, but much more of him stayed behind.  Like I said, he gave more that he got.

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