Bring Heaven to Earth

A Wonderful Possibility

Bringing Heaven to Earth:   Jesus prayer is challenging us with these words: “… your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

What an enormous project that is, to bring the goodness, beauty, love, of heaven to our life on earth. That is  what Christian living is about. We are here to make the world a better place. Life is more about bringing heaven to earth than about waiting to go to heaven. In heaven we will feel good about ourselves, confident, unafraid, loved and valued all the time. We will love everyone and understand life, nature, and history.  We will be bathed in beauty and loveliness, and a lot more. "On earth as it is in heaven" means for us to be working at making life more peaceful, loving, secure, efficient, comfortable, beautiful, just, and interesting.. That is our task as followers of Jesus. What a wonderful assignment! Every small, medium, or large act of kindness, creativity, diligence, and perseverance contributes to the goal.

Aging: Security vs Risk

The Joy of Aging is Balancing Security and Risk

All of life is a drama of balancing ourselves between security and risk.  There are wonderful delights in being secure.  There are special joys in taking risks.  And there are dangers and hazards in both.

Traditionally the enticements of risk win more with the younger generation.  The joys of security are more attractive to us as we age.  As a result there are more crashes among the young as they take risks, and more stagnation among the old, as we try to be safe and secure. 

Risk taking, and indifference to security, can produce an exciting roller-coaster ride, but such adventures often end back where they started-nothing gained but it was an exciting ride.  But not always is there a lack of gain.  The old axiom is true:  “nothing ventured nothing gained”.  Most growth is the result of breaking out and trying something at least slightly unpredictable and uncertain.

Too much concern with security can add up to tidy bank accounts and neat surroundings, but they may leave the participants  feeling shallow and  even somewhat bored.  Life and growth  seem to depend on trying some new or unproven ventures.

The challenge of aging is to keep on growing. That means continuing to be enticed by the attractions of risk taking.  that guarantees continued growth.  At the same time our health and well-being can be protected by a relatively wholesome amount of security.

When we stop growing we die.  We are expected as God’s people to see life as a continual growth process right up to the time we transition to Jesus’ arms in heaven.  Life  is not to be a challenge up to retirement and then a time of coasting, a downhill slide to the grave. Rather than slowly disconnecting and detaching from our surroundings we must continue to be transformed by the renewal of our minds.  We must never wholly give in to the comforts of the rocking chair and the T.V. but forever keep alive an openness to new adventures and opportunities for enjoying and brightening our world.

(Soon I will blog some ideas about how we can continue to grow even in advanced senior years).

Faith and A Good Night's Sleep

IT’S EASIER TO LIVE BY FAITH IF YOU’VE HAD A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP

Sometimes cutting short your sleep to commune with God may, in fact, undermine your ability to live close to God. A tired person is more vulnerable to temptations than the wide-awake. The weakened body is more apt to be plagued with self-doubt than one fed and rested.

Quiet times for prayer, meditation and reflection aid the Christian walk, but the notion that “more of the same” will continue to produce positive results is faulty.

The spiritual growth we aspire to cannot take place separate from sound care for the whole person.

• It’s easier to feel close to God when the Excedrin has taken my headache away.

• Faith soars when the air is fresh and I’m biking briskly on a bright spring morning.

• After a cup of coffee my spiritual attitude is always improved.

Spiritual inspiration and enthusiasm can be mediated by physical interventions and activities. Faith-builders will not only implore their adherents to worship in the traditional forms, including Bible study, prayer, meditation and song. They will also encourage the health-care of the body, spirit and emotions through exercise, vacations and travel, hospitality, friendship. Spiritual growth is the product of good-deed projects, enjoyment of the arts, folk-dance, the appreciation of beauty in nature and craftsmanship, ecology efforts, reading, hobbies, gardening.

Confident that “everything affects everything else” the growing Christian will be one designing a well-rounded life-style. Spirit-raising pastimes can bring us closer to God-pleasing service.

The World is Better

In 1975 three of four people in the world had no access to clean water. Now three of  four do have it.

Thirty years ago the adult global literacy rate was 53%. Now it is 80%.

In 1980 the consensus shared by experts was that 80% of the world’s people lived in substandard housing. Today the estimate is 25% are in substandard housing.

Thirty years ago one in eight children died in their first year of life.  Today it is one in sixteen.

Your Smile Can Heal

I was walking in the Mall pondering a couple of discouraging encounters earlier in the day. A young boy suddenly was blocking my path and I slowed to step around him. He greeted me with a warm smile and a wave of his hand. I couldn’t help but smile back, and suddenly I realized my mood had lifted. I also reflected on the fact that the youth was a youngster with Downs Syndrome. He had healed me of my blue feelings—with a smile.

Every one carries a smile. Too many are unused, or too rarely used. Smiles are instant inoculations of loving-kindness. And every one needs them constantly. Each of us walks through life carrying this powerful medicine, and we have the opportunity to lift spirits and heal discouraged souls everywhere we go.

 1. Believe your smile can heal another person.
 2. Decide to give it to people you meet—clerks, mechanics, people you meet.
 3. Trust that they will feel brightened by your kind act.
 4. Enjoy this new agenda for everyday living.

Living Our Loving Kindness

When we talk asbout Care and Kindness we are not just trying to motivate a lot of people to go around doing good deeds and acting friendly.  That is only part of what it is about.  The big picture is being The Body of Christ, the church.  We are expected to be a contrast to society in general.  We are asked to be more conspicuopusly kind and thoughtful toward one another.  The idea is that we look attractive to those who are not part of it.  That is what happened in the early church and Pagan people were attracted.  The Pagan religion disappeared and the Christian community expanded in an amazing way--mostly because they were living their loving kindness.

Go to Jesus for the Holy Spirit

To become what God expects of us we need the Holy Spirit of Jesus to guide us, motivate us, strengthen us, inspire us.  This is possible.  We acquire the Holy Spirit by meeting, knowing, following Jesus.

A regular diet of Jesus will fill our hearts with loving-kindness, and the courage to deliver care and kindness  of major and minor dimensions every day, everywhere.