BRING THE HOPE

What Happens In Heaven

I received the following email/story from my mom yesterday and wanted to pass it along. We have so much for which to be thankful. I'm going to spend some time this weekend counting my blessings. Have a good weekend.

WHAT HAPPENS IN HEAVEN  

I had a dream that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around.  We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels.  My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, “This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.”

I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.  

Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.  

The angel then said to me, "This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them." I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.  

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. "This is the Acknowledgment Section, my angel friend quietly admitted to me.  He seemed embarrassed." How is it that there is no work going on here, I asked?  

"So sad," the angel sighed.  "After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments"  

"How does one acknowledge God's blessings? " I asked

"Simple," the angel answered. Just say, "Thank you, Lord."

"What blessings should they acknowledge?"  I asked?  

"If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.”

"And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity."  

"If you woke up this morning with more health than illness…you are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day."  

"If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... You are ahead of 700 million people in the world."

"If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the  world."

 "If your parents are still alive and still married ...you are very rare"  

"If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm,  you're unique to all those in doubt and  despair."

Ok, what now?  How can I start?  

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.  

Have a good day, count your blessings, and if you care to pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are…

ATTN:  Acknowledge Dept.  
"Thank you Lord, for giving me the ability to share this message and for giving me so many wonderful people with whom to share it. "  

If you have read this far, and are thankful for all that you have been blessed with, how can you not send it on???? I thank God for everything, especially all my family and friends!!

The Trend Away From Religion Slows

Did you see the story that ran yesterday about the declining number of Americans who identify themselves as Christians? Based on surveys, conducted at Trinity College, 76 percent of Americans said they were Christians last year compared to 86 percent in 1990.

That's a big decline over an 18-year span. But, the real story was buried as media rushed to hype the survey with headlines like: "A Trend Away From Religion" and "Americans Losing Their Religion".

A closer look at the numbers revealed a more interesting storyline. You see, Trinity College conducted the same study in 2001 and the so-called trend away from religion has slowed dramatically over the last seven years. According to researchers, 77 percent of Americans identified themselves as Christians in 2001, compared to 76 percent in 2008. That time span shows a one percent change over seven years. Ho hum.

Given the downturn in the economy and the despair many are feeling with foreclosed homes and lost jobs, my guess is that more people are coming back to religion in 2009. The same held true after the Sept. 11 tragedies as people found comfort in going to church and being part of something bigger than themselves.

A Christian friend of mine is writing a blog during Lent and I've been enjoying his posts. In a recent post titled "answers to prayer", Scott talked about how we don't always get what we pray for. And he shared one of his favorite phrases that says, "God has three answers to prayer - 'Yes', 'Not Yet' or 'I have something better in mind'."

I'll be the first to admit that faith is a mystery. But, I find that it suits me just fine. And I'm glad that three-out-of-four people (according to the Trinity College survey) feel the same way.

"The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible." -- George Burns

Three Simple Rules For Living

Last Friday, I made my list of resolutions for 2009. But, over the weekend I heard a great message from Dr. Kent Millard. So, I've decided to make an addition to my list.

Dr. Millard spoke about a book written in 2007 by UMC Bishop Rueben Job. The book, Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living, puts three simple, yet challenging rules forward.

I'm going to focus on one of the rules in 2009 and that is the rule to "Do Good." Care to join me?

Here is a prayer that was on the back of a bookmark I received with Job's list of rules. "Help us today to be an answer to another's prayer so that we may be one of your signs of hope in the world you love." 

Cheers to Bishop Job for giving us a road map on how to bring the hope.

"The smallest good deed is better than the grandest good intention." - Japanese Proverb

 

Merry Christmas

Silent Night

One of the highlights of every year for me is standing with several hundred people singing Silent Night on Christmas Eve. Part of the experience is the music. But, all of the candlelight is a big part too. It's great to see all the smiles and the light reflected in everyones' faces. This time of the year really brings the hope.

Here is a solid version of Silent Night by Jewel.

Best wishes for a very Merry Christmas.

 

Gone Where?

Over the weekend, I learned a valuable lesson about how to find hope in even the most trying situations.

Here was the setting: A dear friend of mine was officiating over his Dad's funeral on Saturday morning. During his moving remarks, he recounted many of the things that make the father-son bond so special. Then, he read the following words from American clergyman Henry Van Dyke. 

"I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads its white sails to the ocean. He is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch him until at length he hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says: “There, he is gone!”

“Gone where?”

Gone from my sight. That is all.

His diminished size is in me, not in him. And just at the moment when someone at my side says: “There, he is gone!” there are other eyes watching him coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout:

“Here he comes!”

And that is dying."

That story brings the hope. Cheers to my friend's Dad for a life well lived.

Are You A Holy Roller?

Recently, a co-worker asked me about this blog. He was interested in my motivation and as we closed our conversation he said, "oh good, I thought you were turning into some kind of holy roller." I laughed and took my friend's good-natured ribbing in stride. But, it got me thinking. Maybe I should do a quick post about spirituality.

If you were to search Wikipedia for the term "holy roller" you would find the following paraphrase. "Holy Roller is a term used to describe churchgoers. However, it is also more commonly used to describe any religion follower that tries to promote their religion at doorsteps or in public forums."

So, am I a holy roller? Yes and no. I'm a churchgoer, but I'm not going door-to-door promoting my religion. I'm one of 12 million United Methodists from around the world, but I'm not out recruiting per se. I believe that people have to find their own path. I'm happy to talk about mine, but I'm not looking to push my beliefs on anyone uninvited.

I recently read an article Dr. Larry Dossey wrote for Body and Soul Magazine titled, "The Power of Optimism." It's a good read and I agree with his thoughts on spirituality. Here are Dr. Dossey's words...

Cultivate spirituality..."Countless studies show that people who follow a spiritual path—it doesn’t matter which one—generally live longer and enjoy a lower incidence of most major diseases than people who don’t. Which approach should you choose? Be open. Let it choose you. You might find spiritual connection in a particular religion, a form of meditation, or a physical discipline such as yoga or tai chi. Connecting with the divine might also come through something completely different, like tending an herb garden, singing in a choir, or surfing Saturday mornings at dawn. Trust the saying “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.”

Tuning In

We are bombarded with messages. Fortunately, we get to decide which ones we tune into. Sometimes we get a little help in the form of repetition. And that's what happened to me last Sunday.

Everything started as I listened to Dr. Kent Millard talk about the importance of being humble. His message hinged on the idea that we have to humbly serve others if we expect to make a difference in the world. That's easy enough. Dr. Millard even shared a few compelling stories and quoted Mother Teresa who said, "we can do no great things, only small things with great love."

Got it. I walked away inspired and went about my day. Later, I found myself at a fundraiser with some really cool people from the St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf. They were showing the film Horton Hears a Who where an animated elephant (Horton) humbly serves the quirky inhabitants of the speck-sized planet Who-ville by giving them a voice. Horton proclaims, "a person is a person no matter how small."

Okay...I got the message. And now I'm sharing it. It must be like Gandhi said, "the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." Cheers to Dr. Millard and the people at St. Joseph Institute for showing us the way. We'll have Bob Marley sing us out with, "One Love, one heart. Let's get together and feel alright."