Good Evening Dear Family of Love and God!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Being Thoughtful and Thankful Thursday! We have had an amazing day and I want to thank everyone who read last evening's blog and took us past the 150,000 page view mark. Today I have had an encounter with one of my former classmates from high school who has become a chronic hater. Chronic haters aren't the most pleasant people to be around and you can imagine how rattled one can become when it is time to set them straight or decide to do something I rarely do and that is unfriend. I have done that once and it isn't what I like to do. I decided not to because sometimes these chronic haters have their hatred based on fear and mis-information. We all must learn to love the chronic hater in our midst. It isn't easy but that is what God has called us to do. I posted this item on Facebook earlier:
Lessons learned today! Coming to terms with the haters who just might have an underlying illness, called the Fear of the Other. We have quite a few of these family members who don't know how to deal with people who are different. I'm not afraid of anyone I love the diversity of our big family and yes even those who seem to like to accentuate the negative. For these family members it is like a bad habit or hobby that shouldn't have been started in the first place. Once the seeds of hatred, fear, bigotry, and bullying begin it is often times hard to change out the behaviors and mindsets. We all need to be patient and make sure we who are educated have our knowledge based tool kit that isn't shoved down their throats but spoon fed gently with doses of info an 1/8th of a teaspoon at a time. Today I was going to unfriend a few people but God in his infinite goodness and mercy reminded me that if I model radical love and hospitality here on the web and in my own off the grid life it can make a difference. God keeps pointing out the lost sheep to me and many are on social media. So if you are one of our family members who have been driven to hate, fear, anxiety, and bullying just know that you are loved and to take time to look in the mirror and see who the God of love and Good Shepherd made. God wants you healthy and whole and the first step is to break the habits of the addicting forms of negativity(hatred, bigotry,racism, bullying, and fear) and try being more CALM (Compassionate, accepting, loving, and Merciful) Remember we are here to love you through the pain and anxiety of those first and terrifying steps into a new and better way of being. I love you and yes we all matter!
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God of mercy and peace we pray and light our candles this night for all of our family members who have traveled down the road into fear, hatred, bullying, bigotry, and violence. We pray that we may fight not to be led into a new chronic illness "The Fear of the Other" Help us to follow in your footsteps and grace filled mercy and learn about and from our family members who differ from us. Give us courage to be educated and have a support system that can bolster comments made in social media. God we ask for strength to be able to talk about our faith when we are challenged Give us the toolkit that will lead us into CALM(Compassion, Acceptance, Love, and Mercy) Cast away from all of our family members the addicting habits of being afraid, hate-filled, bigoted, and all negative thoughts and actions that cause us to be divided. This night let us in the words of the prophet Micah " He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? and from the Prophet Isaiah " 3And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples;And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war. 5Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.…
Let us remember this each night "The Light of Christ in Me, recognizes the light of Christ in You! Amen.
Tonight we will meditate on stopping hate, bullying, violence, and inequality. Please take out your timers, mindfulness apps, or music. Tonight's music is this: John Michael Talbot mix . Take time to go deeper into the center and if you have any negative thoughts that need to be let go of, this it the time, this is the place.
God of love and compassion help us to be truly loving and that we may protect all those who are being bullied, abused, and hated.
God of love and compassion, encircle this broken and fragile with you love, justice, mercy and light so that there may be peace on the earth.
God of love and compassion, drive away all things that divide us ! May we be one with you O God and stand and live united as one family under the shadow of your wings!
God of love and compassion, give us tender hearts to give comfort and help all those who are in any need or trouble.
God of Love and compassion, heal all of our family members who are ill in body, mind , or spirit. Give us courage to help them and reach out to them when our fears and anxieties hold us back.
God of Love and compassion, we pray for all of our family members who are pre-grieving their loved ones who are transitioning into the Thin Places.
God of Love and compassion, we pray for all those who live in places of violence, especially The Middle East, Burundi, The Democratic Republic of the Congo,Central America, The United States,, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan , Africa. We pray particularly for the many refugees who have been displaced from their homes and workplaces.
God of Love and Compassion We pray for all who are dying and those who have died today that they had a peaceful and warm journey into the Thin Places.
God of Love and compassion, We pray that we may become the voices of our voiceless and vulnerable family members.
God of Love and compassion, please shower upon us the gift of rain to heal and cleanse all drought parched areas of the world and in our country.
God of Love and compassion, we pray for all the leaders of the nations that they may learn to lead with compassion, justice, and mercy. and that their citizenry may be afforded human and equal rights and that they may respect the dignity of every human being.
God of Love and Compassion, we add our prayers for ourselves and those who have asked to pray on behalf of others ______________.
God of Love and Compassion we offer these prayers in the name of his only Son Jesus, Amen.
Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
"You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."
Or these!
Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.
God may we resist the need to put labels, letters, brands, and such on your children.
May we be one.
God may we resist using these labels, letters, brands to harm, hurt, discriminate and hate.
May we be loving and united.
God may we resist the need to use labels, letters, brands in describing our family members.
May we see each family member as you see us.
God may we seek to see you in each of our enemies faces and do good to them by remembering they are part of our family too. May we seek to follow the example Jesus set and look to Him as our role model in our family and in our faith.
God may we continue to widen the circle of our family by expanding and tenderizing our hearts and loving each other fully without fear and suspicion.
God we pray for all of our family members who are ill, need, danger, homeless, hungry, and especially these our family members we now name before you________________
God we pray for all our family members who are in nations where there is danger remembering South Sudan, Syria, The Ukraine, and all other parts of the world where there is danger and especially those places that are on our hearts____________________
God we pray for rain and a gentle return to normal weather patterns throughout the world. and in our nation.
God we pray for those who have died today and this hour that they may feel your warm embrace as they begin a new chapter where they are truly one with you. We pray for all who continue to grieve losses of any kind regardless of time. We remember especially_____________________________
God we give you thanks for our family members and all our many blessings and especially all those many blessings _______________________
God we celebrate those special times , family members birthdays, and special saints and persons who are on our calendar and hearts today remembering especially_____________________________
God we wrap these our prayers into a Sabbath Box and know that you are already at work responding to these our prayers, receiving our thanksgivings, acknowledging those special celebrations and consoling us as we remember those who are near and dear to us who now reside with you. All this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
"Hear O, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One". May we all be one!
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Good Night Dear Family of Love ! I love you ! May you have a blessed and restful and peaceful night. May you awaken relaxed, refreshed, renewed, and restored so that you may serve God in God's broken and fragile world. If you don't know what to do, look around and when all else fails, pray. I give thanks to God for you this night and always! Remember tomorrow is Keeping the Faith Friday Fearlessly Without Fretting!
Peace, love, prayers, and God's Blessings be always with you,
Sara
As always inspiring thoughts and beautiful photos.
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