Printer
Friendly page - click here
Journal — November 2003 |
|
| AN ONGOING
SPIRITUAL WEBLOG |
|
November 26, 2003
Today, the day before the Thanksgiving Holiday, many communities will serve up free meals for
the poor and homeless. For many of the agencies that do this it is a daily ministry – reaching
out to help those desperately in need. Typically around holidays
like Thanksgiving the outreach will be on a greater scale.
I suppose part of the reason for this is it garners more
attention and people are more willing to give and assist.
It’s good, however, to also remember that for those
in need of a place to sleep and a meal to eat that they can
enjoy a Thanksgiving meal and some community.
In our city (Albuquerque, New Mexico) organizations like Joy Junction, Good Shepherd Center,
St. Martin’s Hospitality Center, Albuquerque Rescue Mission, Noonday Ministries and
the Roadrunner Food bank are reaching out with love and service.
Some of these groups are entirely dependent on the giving
of the private sector. I’m reminded of Jesus teaching
the multitudes and then at the end of the day, when it was
late, the disciples asked Jesus to send the crowd away to
the villages so they could get a meal. What was Jesus’ response? “You
give them something to eat.”(Mark 6:37). He said this
before performing the miracle of multiplying the loaves and fishes.
So, is Jesus reminding us in this teaching to be part of
the solution? The food can be multiplied but the Lord invites
us to be part of the miracle. May you be richly blessed,
giving thanks to God for everything and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Tom Gilbert
|
November 25, 2003
A new five disc box-set of Johnny Cash music recorded during
the last decade is coming out. Cash died Sept. 12 at age
71 of complications from diabetes, but he was quite prolific
in his final years, particularly in his work with producer
Rick Rubin.
You can read about the project here. You might also want to check out a new book on Cash, The
Man Comes Around, just released on Relevant books. There’s also a good insight
to Johnny Cash’s spiritually charged music by contributor
Steve Beard, “Man in Black”, in the new Spiritual
Journeys: How Faith Influenced Twelve Music Icons (review).
|
November 24, 2003
One of my favorite things to contemplate is the matter of willingness. It seems to me that so many
things hinge on this: what I will or won’t do, how honest I’m
being to myself and others, what my motives are.
Willingness is the launch pad of action. It works closely with intention. When it is combined with
honesty, gratitude and humility it points to the door through which I walk to
freedom. It’s freedom from the bondage of self and the discovery of the joy that doing for others brings.
|
November 21, 2003
Here’s an analogy for those of you who understand
a little about how web sites work and are hosted. When people
browse the Internet and come to a site such as ours the various
graphics and content hopefully display well. This means proper
coding of everything from basic HTML to cascading style sheets,
java script, “contact” forms and so on.
Sometimes things don’t work because something is wrong
with the web site. It can be a really simple thing like not
uploading properly to the host server – the whole FTP
process. At other times the problem is on the user end. The
computer or browser they use may not be compatible or configured right.
So many things can affect the end result. Kind of like our daily connection with God.
God’s availability is always there and working right – we just need to be hooking
up properly. That means removing what is blocking our connection.
Usually it means a lot of letting go. Open up the connection;
get rightly configured to receive God’s love, forgiveness and grace.
(If you are looking for help for your web site check out the resources and problem/solution format
I’ve put together at Inet Marketing Solutions. If you are a web designer,
especially one that works with Christian sites, be sure to check out the great support and
resources from the Good News Web Designers Association.)
Tom Gilbert
|
November 20, 2003
The new issue of our Living the Solution e-zine is a wrap and
has been emailed to all our subscribers. You can read it online
to - go here.
I hope the feature article, Singing Praises, gets you humming.
Tom Gilbert
|
November 18, 2003
Yesterday while surfing the web I ran across a delightful story. You know the kind, those great
allegories that you read and they resonate with you and you wonder why so many
people already know about it and you’re just now discovering it.
Anyway, apparently “A Bike Ride With God” has
been out there for a while. I discovered it as a result of
an email telling me about a new book, “Once
Upon a Tandem”, which takes the same idea
and presents a similar message. You might want to hyper-jump over
to their website where you can read the original story and
get info on the
book
|
November 17, 2003
Morning coffee, reading and prayer, get the kids off to school, they miss the bus, honking traffic,
drive to school, more rush hour traffic – whew! What a Monday start.
But, I did make it down to the contemplative centering prayer
at 7:40am. Afterwards the world seemed different, more peaceful
and beautiful. The lesson (again) is about responding to
things, not reacting; changing myself, not others; seeing
the world through the unconditionally loving eyes of God.
Tall order? Sure, but it is “the path”.
|
November 14, 2003
Here’s something to chew on: what, if any, is the difference between an act of will and an
act of intent?
|
November 12, 2003
Beauty is a heart that loves and a mind that is open.
|
November 11, 2003
There are many days on the calendar that remind us of things we should be regularly conscious or
aware of. Do we need a “Day of Prayer” to pray? Why do we only celebrate
the day we were born on our birthdays? But, human nature
is such that we often need the reminders.
So, on this “Veteran’s Day”, let’s
remember the duty and the honor of military service. It is
a difficult thing to be in war. The cost is high. War is
not glorious, but the sacrifice, compassion and love that
sometimes can be found on the battlefield are.
One day the swords will be beaten into plowshares. Today
we remember the Vets.
|
November 10, 2003
I’ve commented before about the importance of preserving
and telling your life story (see the October
22, 2003 newsletter).
I just returned from a conference in Denver, the annual gathering
for the Association of Personal Historians (APH). Rarely
have I encountered such a committed and passionate group
of people. They were very friendly and genuinely interested
in each other and how they could help. That shouldn’t
be a surprise considering they work in the field of personal
history and life stories. That is truly a “people” business.
If you are on a spiritual path it is really important to chronicle it. It helps you process
your experience and it can be invaluable in sharing your beliefs and dreams with
loved ones. “Your past is your story up to now. The
future is the story yet to come. The present is where you
live with that experience, your hopes and your dreams.”
Tom Gilbert
|
November 7, 2003
If you have young children you hopefully know the joy of reading to them. I like that my son, Eric
(age 9), still wants me to do this. Sometimes my 15-year old daughter, Kristen,
even tolerates it (we did spend many years reading together, but hey, she’s a teenager now).
Currently Eric and I are reading A
Wind in the Door by Madeleine
L’Engle. My first exposure to this
incredibly gifted writer was only a few years ago, when Kristen
turned me onto
A
Wrinkle in Time. I’m ashamed that
I didn’t
read her earlier. Since, we’ve also ingested Many
Waters and I look forward to several more. L’Engle has a tremendous
catalog of truly gifted writing. She knows how to incorporate
God and faith into a storyline without ever being pushy…and
that’s quite a gift. Reading the titles of her many
books is poetic (A Circle of Quiet, A
Swiftly Tilting Planet,
The Arm of the Starfish and Dragons
in the Waters, just to
name a few).
Visit this excellent site
on Madeleine L’Engle.
|
November 6, 2003
A Japanese phone firm has created a new mobile phone device (the Finger
Whisper) which makes it
possible to “hear” the sounds of conversation through vibrations transmitted when
your finger is placed in your ear! This really has nothing
to do with my new article, Can You Hear Me Now, although I hope you give that a read.
I just find it amusing and amazing. Think about it…putting
your finger in your ear to hear. Now you really will have
to clean the wax out of your ears.
|
November 5, 2003
Maybe you’ve heard the saying, “you can’t
think your way into right living, but you can act your way
into right thinking”. I believe there is some truth
in that. At the same time, I also believe that before action
there must be some contemplation.
God’s input influences my thoughts.
What I think about will influence what I do (my actions).
However, there is no doubt that doing the right things will influence my thinking.
The tension between the two is interesting.
|
November 3, 2003
A quick scan of today’s news headlines
shows more violence in the Middle East (another
suicide bombing) and more deadly attacks
on U.S. troops in Iraq. Do you recall
about a year ago how the case was made for going to war to
liberate Iraq from Saddam Hussein? Do you remember the constant
attempts over the years for a peace plan between the Palestinians
and the Israelis?
Man’s vain attempts are exposed. This is not to say we should not strive for peace and justice.
Indeed, we should! Yet, governments and the world leaders are not capable of
bringing about the lasting peace that comes from God. The peace that Jesus Christ offers.
The peace that surpasses all human understanding.
|
| Read past Journal entries here. |
Scripture taken from the Holy
Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973,
1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved
throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible
Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks
of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for
the offering of goods or services requires the prior written
consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used by permission
of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All
rights reserved.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| |
You'll
also receive Practical Biblical Solutions for life's challenges
with our free e-zine |
| |
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Finding God:
Where You Least Expect Him
by John Fischer
click to buy
read the review
|
| We
have more than 120,000 Christian books, bibles,
music,gifts, video, software and more!
It's easy to find what you're looking for by using
our BROWSE feature to search for your favorite
type of
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
PSALM
118:24
|
|
|
"This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it."
|
|
(NIV)
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
|
 |
