I thought of this idea when I watched Frosty the Snowman during Christmas and thought of our desire to live beyond our normal lifespan. Morbid? I don’t think so. As it says in Psalm 90:12, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
We may disagree on faith and theology, but most likely, we can agree there is a part of us that wants to live beyond our physical bodies. There is something in us that wants to live eternally. Our physical bodies are as fragile as a snowman. But our soul longs for Something much more.
I drew this for the January 2016 CHOGNews Newsletter: CHOGNews
It can be tough to have faith that can move mountains when you have to go back to school. I probably prayed a prayer similar to the boy’s prayer in this cartoon when I was in elementary school.
School was stressful for me. I never knew if my pencil was really a Number Two Pencil. If I wasn’t so nervous, I may have had the wits to actually check the inscription on the pencil. I should’ve realized almost all school pencils are number two pencils. If I just got that through my head, maybe school wouldn’t have been so stressful. Then again, maybe I should have just prayed about my stress!
It’s fun when tradition collides with technology! For a few months, I’ve been using my bank’s web payment to pay my tithes and offerings. Why not? I’ve paid all my other bills that way for years. I didn’t expect the feeling of guilt when the offering plate came around even when I knew perfectly well I was giving.
So how do you combat that feeling when someone gives online? You can’t put your smart phone in the offering plate. Printing out a receipt seems tacky. If you wave it off and say, “I gave online,” you’re only calling attention to yourself and sound pretentious. Oh, the dilemmas!
A t-shirt would solve all the awkward exchanges. All the church has to do is pass them out in the back before the service. You can make them big enough to fit over any outfit. And if you decorate your church for the season, you can make them match colors for Lent and Advent!
Thanks to Jesus words in Matthew 5:16, Christians love to go around talking about letting our lights shine. As an introvert, that verse has sounded like a threat to me instead of a dose of encouragement. If I let my light shine, do I reveal something I may later regret? Will I look like a fool because what I shone light on was a nice, little skeleton in someone’s closet?
Then again, whenever I listen to the news and hear the latest doom and gloom about the latest crime, terrorist attack or miscellaneous dirty deed, I realize the world could use a little more brightening.
Should I let my light shine? What’s the alternative? Do I sit around and watch the world get darker and scarier? Or do I do something good with what I have? Should I be concerned someone will take my good deeds and turn them into something horrible like arson?
Dr. Martin Luther King went endured abuse and lost his life in the name of civil rights. If we do good, can we expect abuse? Yes, people who go against the status quo and reveal darkness can expect pushback. But light and love must prevail.
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