Just this week, several efforts have come to my attention. I’m glad to see folks caring and giving, often to people they don’t even know. I think this says a lot about being our brothers’ keepers. If we can put aside the hating and the blaming, we can find lots of good to go around.

When people are in need, many don’t know where to seek help. Others are too proud to ask. But all of it kind of goes back to the “ask and you shall receive” concept. Some examples follow.

Richmond Community Church hosted a “free sale” to help people in need. Donated items were to be given to anyone, free for the taking. Among other things, items included clothing, shoes, electronics and books. The sale, scheduled at the church’s Glen Allen Campus, 11801 Nuckols Road, is sure to be a blessing. The idea is to help the community during hard economic times, said Rick McDaniel, senior pastor at Richmond Community Church.

Elsewhere, Salem Christian School’s staff and students, and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc., coordinated to sponsor a Backpack Drive for the Homeless at the Short Pump Town Center Red Robin, in Henrico County. The school is in Crozier in Goochland County.

Donations of slightly used backpacks were sought, which will be donated to homeless shelters in the Richmond area. The Backpack Drive for the Homeless is part of Salem Christian School’s involvement in the Red Robin U-ACT Champion Program, a national character-building initiative that educates junior high and middle school students about the value of being kind to others. The local drive is intended to encourage students to help people in need in the Richmond area.

And I have to mention Allan and Silvana Clark, a couple dubbed “Sole Ambassadors” for their role with the Nashville, Tenn.-based Soles4Souls program. The two are traveling across North America in a recreational vehicle during a year-long tour to promote a charity that collects shoes for the needy. They planned a stop in Glen Allen as part of the promotion. Customers who donated used shoes to the Soles4Souls organization would receive $10 off new shoes at the Foot Solutions store, 10270 Staples Mill Road in The Shoppes at Crossridge.

You’ll see the couple at retail footwear drives, races and concerts. They encourage people to donate shoes in good condition. Silvana Clark, a professional speaker and author, is a spokeswoman for Soles4Souls, which was founded by Wayne Elsey in the aftermath of the 2004 tsumani that hit Southeast Asia. For information about the effort, visit http://www.soles4souls.org.

Thanks to all who help make our communities better and stronger through acts of kindness. I believe God is pleased.

Diane McLamb, 44, was a first-responder to Hayssam “Ali” Agharaad, who was waving for help because his van was on fire and he could not walk. His wheelchair inside was not accessible. So she pulled him from the driver’s seat, placed him on the ground, then left quickly. Three other people carried Agharaad farther away from the van before it burst into flames.

Fits right in with my message of doing good, and being compassionate and humble. I don’t know if McLamb follows any particular faith tradition. It doesn’t matter. The bottom line: She responded to Agharaad and helped when he was in need.

“People just don’t stop like they used to,” she told a Times-Dispatch reporter. “I was glad to help him out. It was no problem.”

McLamb explained that her gas tank was almost empty, and once Agharaad was out of his vehicle, she went on because she was worried she’d run out of gas. She didn’t wait to seek thanks or gratification in return for her kindness.

Sadly, Agharaad’s van and motorized wheelchair were lost. But he’s a winner because of McLamb’s willingess to stop. She acknowledged her role only after someone else identified this previously unknown woman who helped a stranger to safety.

It’s been reported that donors will replace Agharaad’s wheelchair. It’s likely those people won’t be immediately known. But their kindness is another example of how folks will step up when others call for help.

I’m told that Agharaad and McLamb have met again. I’m sure he’s one grateful guy.

I’m thankful, too, that there are do-gooders such as Agharaad’s rescuers, who bring out the highest level of humankind. It’s no mystery or coincidence that people care for one another. It seems my presentation about caring ministry was a timeless and timely message.

McLamb modestly described her efforts best: “I didn’t think it was such a big deal. I did what I had to do.”

It is hard to believe that March is here already.  It seems we were just celebrating New Year’s Day.  But we know its March alright.  It would be hard to miss it with the all-out media blitz announcing March Madness. Long before I knew about such a thing as March Madness, the basketball playoffs mania that strikes every March, I experienced a different type of excitement: kite flying.  It was a rite of passage into spring as my siblings and I squealed with delight as the makeshift kites (our dad made) lifted into the air.  We knew nothing about the physics of flying kites, but we had faith in daddy’s ability to make them and the March winds that raised them into the crisp air. We also knew we had to hold onto the ball of twine, while at the same time, releasing enough of it to allow the kite to soar. 

  As I approach my 66th birthday, kite-flying has become sort of a metaphor for my life. I am experiencing the March winds of God’s grace and mercy that allows me to playfully dance in the wind; absolutely free to explore the beauty He has created for me to see and experience.  The reason I am so free is that I trust the One who holds my string. I know He will never let go, because He has promised “never to leave you [me] nor forsake you [me]. 

  Furthermore, I believe the Lord enjoys seeing me dart around from dizzying heights, in unexplored places to view life from different perspectives. My earthly father warned me to “Watch out” for the trees and wires that might snare my kite, but my Heavenly Father goes a step further: He guides me around the dangerous “wires” that might entangle me.  I am so grateful to a loving and omnipotent God for guiding my kite and holding my string.  Who is holding your string?

For some folks, snow means inconvenience, a big mess, extra work (shoveling sidewalks and cleaning windshields), traffic woes and wet clothes.

I’m thinking otherwise. After the first wave of snow Sunday evening, I looked from a window to see sparkling flakes falling to form a white carpet in my back yard. I was tempted to plunge into the soft mat and roll in it just for fun. But nah, I settled for the window scene. I would’ve hated for Mr. Me to have had to pick me up and drag me in after a fall while frolicking in the fluff. Besides, I couldn’t find my snow boots.

The view was like a looking at a postcard. Trees laden with glistening ice and a growing layer of flakes, each one with a different design, just like people. Our backyard light cast just the right illumination and shadows to make a beautiful landscape.

Monday morning was a panorama of nature at work. Birds of all kinds foraged at the feeder outside my window. They flitted and hopped, hungry and happy that there was a place where they could fill their bellies.

A pregnant calico cat waddled through the yard looking for food, too. Its footprints dotted the snow in a zigzag path. Mr. Me tossed some leftovers outside, hoping it would be enough to sustain her in the freezing weather.

All day, creatures came and discovered a wonderland of bounty. I was glad I could help.

But one of the best things about being snowbound was when I decided to go outside Tuesday morning. The hedges out front were drooped with weighted branches.

When I was a kid, I remember my mom gathering fresh snow in a bowl and making what we called snow cream. The mixture of canned milk, snow, beaten egg whites, sugar and flavoring was the next best thing to storebought ice cream.
As I passed the hedges along my driveway, temptation got the best of me. I scraped the top layer of snow from some branches and pushed a fistful of the icy slush into my mouth. It wasn’t snow cream, but I savored the idea of tasting pure nature. I scooped several handfuls, dismissing concerns about acid rain (this little bit couldn’t hurt).

So I guess my point is that people see snow in different ways. It can be a nuisance. But there’s nothing more awesome than waking up to a snowdrift from God. I saw it as a blessing.

I think the birds did, too.
.

It is so different living in Richmond than in the Israeli cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon or the town of Sderot. On Wednesday, Feb. 11, two buses of rabbis and some spouses, traveled to the above named localities in southern Israel.

Because of possible danger, we signed waivers. I don’t think I read the fine print, but I was going anyway and would have signed it regardless. We first came to Ashdod, one of the major ports of Israel. The sea is shining blue, the temperature moderate, and from the coastal highway, the former empty sands have sprouted over the years a beautiful sun drenched city.

We were taken to a project funded by the Joint Distribution Committee that provides home-housing support for the elderly. We met with several women and with people who support them living at home. It was impressive. Instead of segregating elderly people, they enable them to live in their familiar surroundings, in comfort, yet with all their necessities taken care of. The supporters go shopping for them, get their medications, arrange transportation, and create programs that fill their lives with meaning and purpose and maintain a deep sense of community.

I didn’t ask them one question: How do you take care of them when the air raid sirens go off? Maybe they rely on prayer as their protection, because there is no way that all of them could get to bomb shelters in time. But they are hardy and sturdy people. Many are Russian immigrants who survived Stalin, World War II and the Cold War. I don’t know if I could have their courage and mettle.

Then we went to Congregation Netzach Yisrael, the conservative (in Israel called Masorti), traditional but not orthodox congregation in Ashkelon. Before warm greetings and introductions, the rabbi of the congregation stood up and said: “Everyone sitting on this side of the room will follow that person out that door to the bomb shelter and everyone sitting on that side of the room will follow that person out that door to that bomb shelter, should the siren sound.“ Then he added the postscript: “And you only have 15 seconds in which to do it.“

The obvious reason was because from the time the rocket/missiles/katyusha/mortar is spotted it only takes 15 seconds to hit Ashkelon. That was a very sobering announcement. There was silence in the room. The active war in Gaza to stop this insanity was over but Hamas was still firing intermittently. During a briefing they showed us maps pinpointing every hit on Ashkelon. We have not seen that information in America.

Why? Does the international media not care how 1 million civilians have been living for years under the bombardment of 10,000 such attacks for a decade? Why haven’t Jewish media reported this? Does it get boring? Afraid to frighten away American Jewish tourists?

And then they took us to see several of the five kindergartens at the synagogue. The children’s eyes were so radiant, so joyful, their voices so filled with song and prayers, so happy to see us that you have to stop and pinch yourself and ask “What planet have I come to? They are living under unbearable conditions, at least I couldn’t do it, and they look like this?“ Maybe God’s miracles have not ceased. We visited to two classes.

Then they showed us the bomb shelters. Concrete reinforced with metal is made to withstand everything but a direct hit. Amazingly, there are loops on all four corners, so that when they are no longer needed, the crane that lifted them from the flatbed and put them there, can one day come and take them away. There are 10,000 such bomb shelters that look like bus stops. May they soon disappear from the landscape.

It’s difficult to be cheery when your friends have lost their jobs, when their homes are facing foreclosure and good people are sick with worry.

I won’t bore you with a bunch of do-good drivel. And I’ll keep my message short.

I’m sharing St. Theresa’s Prayer. A friend gave me a copy years ago when I was not feeling my best. I found it to be comforting. Some folks might disagree from a spiritual standpoint.

But in these times when all the talk is about economic stimulus, perhaps you will benefit from a bit of spiritual stimulus. Maybe you’ll share the prayer with someone who’s in need of a lift. Remember,  sometimes a good word can mean as much as a good deed.

St. Theresa’s Prayer
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that
has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

Last Friday, Feb.13, I landed in Atlanta, then flew on to Richmond. I have continued to live in two time dimensions, Eastern Standard Time and Israel time, which are seven hours apart. It is such a strange thing to live in these different realities. I may walk these streets, but at the same time, I see the streets of Jerusalem, the newer and older cities, the stores, and hear multiple languages _ Hebrew, English, French, German, and Amharic, all being spoken at once. I don’t know how to settle my brain down from functioning in warp speed.

I was in Jerusalem for the elections and watched the results starting at 10 p.m. that Tuesday night. The Israeli political system is based on the British model in which you vote for the party of your choice. They receive a representational amount of seats in the government and then the president invites the leader of one of the largest parties to form the government. This always has been a coalition of several parties garnering more than 61 votes (60 being 50 percent), thus insuring that a vote of ‘no confidence’ will fail and not bring the government down. This is always a very delicate maneuver.

It was fascinating to watch this process from close up. I was amazed how little material was in public view. I was looking for handouts, large banners, advertising on buses and billboards. There was so little! Yet somehow the message got out. We are used to two parties and rarely a maverick third. In Israel there were many parties running slates, some of which did not receive the threshold necessary for even one seat, such as the Pensioners Party and the Green Party. When I was interviewed by Alberta Lindsey (for The Times-Dispatch, I thought that the Kadima party had the best overall posture on the issues. Tzipi Livni really surprised the pundits, yet the complexity of issues and the variations on themes within each party makes the choices ever more complex and difficult when you look at it while in Israel rather than looking at it from here.

The concerns spread over a vast panorama with consequences for the survival of the state. How many will be above or below the poverty line? Will education be enhanced? Will the ultra-religious community continue to receive state subsidies for education and the size of their families while not being obligated to military service or any other comparable service to the country?
Will the religious parties maintain their monopolistic control of marriage, divorce and conversion? Will the Arab citizens of Israel be singled out to make a pledge of loyalty, a move that threatens the very fabric of any democracy (remember what was done to the Japanese Americans who were interned during World War II in the USA?).

No party had all the answers that I wanted. Some answers were better in Likud, others better in Kadima, and some in Labor.

To borrow a Yogi Berraism and change it: “It’s not over even when it’s over!“ Even while I watched the celebrations at the Kadima headquarters on television, I learned that they still had to count the ballots of the soldiers in service and then, depending on other pieces, who will President Shimon Peres tap first to make the new government, Tzipi Livni or Benjamin Netanyahu? Even as I write this on Feb. 16, this is not clear. Meanwhile the events of the economy, military and foreign policy, the desire for the release of Gilad Shalit, continue under the caretaker government of Prime Minister Olmert.

It was a fascinating time to be there. No country in the entire Middle East can claim to be a democracy, but Israel. In the newspaper and on billboards were posted official notices of the voting places, hundreds in Jerusalem alone. There were notices of the guaranteed right to vote, about noninterference, about who was eligible (our daughter got there just a few days too late to vote), with detailed writeups of each candidate and party and what they stood for. And then the post election analysis that continued endlessly. Amazing! The deep grasp of citizens to the complexity of the forces that shape their world.

In Israel there are five large newspapers and at least as many smaller ones, especially those that are in other languages. Official signs are in Hebrew, English and Arabic. And the consequences are not theoretical.

The answers, the decisions, influence the very survival of the state, for the welfare of its citizens. Israel is not immune from the economic situation. People are losing jobs. There is serious concern about homelessness and poverty. There are many organizations and volunteer efforts to alleviate this. And the enemy is only as far as the nearest katyusha missile and Grad rocket, or the threats from Iran to wipe Israel from the map.

And yet the sunrise which I watched from our daughter’s window and the sunset that I absorbed into my soul as I walked to her place of work _ the Ramah Programs in Israel _ were stunning and elevated my soul to look heavenward, as if to say to God, “There has to be some way to hold evil at bay, to bring tranquility and serenity. If from this little spot on this spinning globe we all pray to you, can there not be some way that from way out there can come an answer to help us find the way down here?”

Even if I just watch the hues in the sky, I feel a measure of reassurance that the efforts, at least human, will strengthen this country and continue its efforts to build a Jewish, democratic, progressive country. My wife and I are thrilled that our daughter is part of this great enterprise in human and specifically Jewish history. I was blessed those past two weeks to walk the streets of Jerusalem with her, absorb the sounds, music and aromas. In my sleep I am still there.

And then I visited Sderot and looked into Gaza. I was told where to run and how to hide if a missile came. That will be the next piece, from Jerusalem, at least in my heart and soul, even as I type from my synagogue office here in Richmond.

Lots of folks are stressed, depressed, disgusted and dissatisfied about the way their lives are headed. Layoffs, resulting financial turmoil, family issues, and national and world events can make tomorrow seem bleak and hopeless.

Likewise, charitable agencies, faith-based organizations and places of worship that help people in need are facing dwindling funds and rising requests for assistance.

You can’t solve these problems but you might have an answer that doesn’t cost a thing.

I, too, have had to curb my spending and giving.  But I can say or do something to encourage those who are hurting, suffering and who just plain feel sick of living. If you’re not in that group, chances are you know someone who is.

Maybe you don’t have money to give, but I bet you’ve got a smile and an open ear. That’ll work for a lot of people who are about to give up and who believe no one cares.

Listen closely to folks waiting at the doctor’s office, in the grocery line, on the bus. You’ll hear stories that tug at your heart. Perhaps you can offer a kind word or share a useful referral to a food program, a free dental clinic or a charitable clothes closet.

Some helping agencies are counting on donors such as you to help sustain services.

But it doesn’t always take dollars to do good. Compassion and kindness are valuable, too.

Forget the chocolates. Have a heart.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” Ecclesiastes 3:1

  Several winters ago, as I retrieved the newspaper from the driveway, I mourned spring and sunlight.  I rejected the seemingly lifeless images I saw in the brown grass, the humps of dead leaves that I hadn’t raked out of the flowerbeds, the naked trees, and the grayness of the season.  However, when I went back inside, and looked out of the storm door, I heard that still, small voice say, “Look, really look and you will see life.”  I stood at the door and absorbed all of the sights in my back yard.  It was in the stillness of that moment that I appreciated the eloquence of winter: My eyes fell on green slivers of daffodil blades peeking up from their earthen resting places. I spied the fuzzy pink of new life on the branches of the maple tree in my back yard.  I observed in the nakedness of the dogwood trees the different hues and textures of the bark. My imagination traveled beneath the ground where lily and peony bulbs were changing clothes, breaking out of their drab winter sleepwear to sprout into their colorful spring garments. While they rested, they’d been nurtured by winter rains and snows, and were simply awaiting their turn to participate in the annual rhythm of nature as the Great Creator designed.

Then I mused on about the bears and how they hibernate during the winter, how they rest and wait for the Creator to wake them up when the food supply is plentiful enough to sustain them.  They don’t argue with God, they simply sleep peacefully until their biological clocks awaken them.  No one has heard a bear say, “But God, I am not sleepy. I don’t want to go to sleep now.  Let the other bears sleep.” No, they are obedient.  All of nature bows to His rhythm:  mockingbirds sing songs of praise in the morning, and birds and monarch butterflies migrate.

Therefore, winter is as a metaphor for waiting, for the wisest king of all times penned the words, “To every thing there is a season…”  I had an epiphany that damp, bleak morning: life goes on in spite of what we can see with our restricted minds and eyes.  Life goes on as the Divine Creator plans it, in harmony with His will, if we WAIT.

While Richmond is in a deep freeze, I traveled in a part of Israel called Emek Hefer, which is the partnership region here with the Richmond Jewish community. It was at least 80 degrees! While it was a beautiful sunny day, it should have been much cooler and rainy. This entire region depends on the winter rainfall to fill the Sea of Galilee, Kineret, the aquifer along the coastline and the small network of small rivers and ponds. From that standpoint, it has been a terrible winter. I pray every day, three times a day, for the descent of rain and dew. I hope to see rain clouds _ good, heavy, soaking-wet rain clouds _ that will drench me while it blesses the land.

An observation: Nearly every place I turn there is construction. Cranes decorate the horizon, boring into rock to clear land and booming in different corners. Trucks laden with construction materials pass by frequently. Whatever is on the economic horizon, whatever else is happening, Israel is building itself every day. There is a certainty that courses through this phenomenon. There is a certitude that infuses the sounds and sights. The infrastructure is growing. New electronic networks go up.

I saw a bride and groom get married this afternoon. And politicians are arguing and now I see some banners, as the elections are next week. Depending on how you count _ through seven wars, several intifadas, the influx of refugees from the Holocaust, the ingathering of the most diverse group of Jews from all points of the Arab world as they fled for their lives and little else to an infant state _ what has been created here is unimaginable.

If those who do would stop their hate and crusade to destroy Israel and instead look at what has been done as a model to build a country, care for human beings, turn attention to the environment and develop medicine to heal friend and foe (I am waiting for the international media to carry front page stories of how many Palestinians are cared for, cured, and healed in Israeli hospitals not related to war and even from the war), maybe they would beat their tanks, Grad missiles, katyushas, and bombs into hospitals, agricultural farms, and libraries that teach respect and not hate. I know that dreaming can be illusive. But in this place, reaching for God is a natural activity.

Of the places I visited today, meeting with students at a school where they are preparing to visit Richmond, was a visit to Yovalim. It is a school in the kibbutz Givat Chayyim. What made this visit so unique and moving was the loving care given to children with autism that are being taught here. The entire school is 580 students. There are classes from grades one to six for these children. In one class I visited they were learning about canyons. In another class, several were mainstreamed for mathematics. I sat with the director and another staff person as they described the gamut of professional attention given to the children so that they can learn and grow into productive, happy lives. It was beautiful. There is no fanfare. There is little money. There is abundant love. There is overflowing graciousness. The walls were decorated by students who had studied Picasso and painted their works in his style.

Others completed a multifaceted document about the ‘greening’ of the region. No war slogans. No hatred of Arabs. No denunciation of Islam. Just a place of learning and love. Just a place of children dreaming. Through the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond we give support to places like this in Emek Hefer. Late into the night I sat as part of the Emek Hefer committee speaking with its counterpart in Richmond about which projects to fund that will bring benefit and blessings to both communities.

I returned to Jerusalem on a sherut, which is a shared taxi, and arrived in my daughter’s apartment about 10:45 p.m. What a heartfelt day. What a blessed day. I wish everyone, I mean everyone _ Israel and Arab, Jew and Moslem, young and old _ could have blessed days. God by any name did not put us on this earth to suffer. I saw that quest in the eyes of the children that I saw today.

The clouds over the coastline of Israel as we approach in the late afternoon are beautiful, puffy and peaceful. As I look at them I think of every time I have flown into Israel and the changing skyline, the modern, soaring, expanding expanse of the Tel Aviv vicinity and the luscious green countryside that surrounds the Ben Gurion airport.

Perhaps because of my sense of history, I am looking at eons of time along with the physical surroundings. I remember the smaller, younger Israel of my first trip in 1968 and the pictures of earlier pioneers and immigrants, and then the drawings of what it is imagined what Jerusalem looked like in Temple times, and informed by what I have seen in excavations. It is all one seamless, continuous panorama in my mind that has no beginning, no interruption, and flows towards the future.

With that flowing picture in my mind, I also have the layer of the current reality of war, and conflict, that is so disjunctive to the peaceful clouds in my airplane’s window. In constantly studying the complex history and its dynamics, especially from the end of the 19th century to this very day, I search for an angle to see how these forces can be truly harmonized, and people who tell such different and conflicting stories, who have such seemingly different visions for the future, can be brought into conjunction, coordination and a true, honest, sincere, peace.

I can only say that having lived here for extended periods of time for study _ undergraduate, rabbinical and sabbatical _ as well as for several trips, the yearning for peace and quiet, the desire to build a socially just society, the dream to be a safe haven for Jews whenever they are persecuted and the vision of reconstituting the Jewish people in their natural corporate nationhood, undoing 2,000 years of diaspora is the complex weave of emotions that animates this country.

They do not wish to send their sons and daughters off to the army and war, generation after generation. This country lives with hope, with dreams, and with an internal strength born of the millennia of Jewish history. One thing is for sure, that Israel is reaching toward every tomorrow with every expectation and action that will insure its existence and vitality. The time for its acceptance by its neighbors, the time for peace is now.

“Above & Beyond Citizen Honors” recipients represent the values of courage, sacrifice and selfless service, according to the foundation, Individuals may nominate any U.S. civilian who has clearly demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice for others whether through a single act of extraordinary heroism at risk to one’s life or through a prolonged series of selfless acts. The nominee’s actions must demonstrate the concept of “service above self” and must be performed “above and beyond” one’s professional area of responsibility or conduct.

Submissions for an eligible nominee can be completed online via the Above & Beyond Web site, http://www.aboveandbeyond365.com. The nomination period will run through Feb. 20.
A panel of judges, to include Medal of Honor recipient representation, will consider nominations and select a finalist from every state, and the District of Columbia. From among state finalists, three individuals will be selected to receive Citizen Honors and will be announced March 9, and honored at a ceremony on March 25 at 2 p.m. EDT, in conjunction with National Medal of Honor Day.

The ceremony will be held in the shadow of the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery in Washington. 

Profiles for each of the 51 finalists will be available on the Above & Beyond Web site and each finalist will receive an embossed Citizen Honors certificate signed by the president of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. 

I’ll bet you won’t have to think too long to come up with someone worthy of a nomination. You might just know a winner.

I asked my children why they thought this day was going to be important and what would they tell their children.  Dreams can come true for everybody.  That’s how they felt.  Dreams can come true whether you live in South Richmond, the Fan or in Petersburg.  A train ride is easy.  Dreams coming true might have become a little easier for so many. 

                                        God’s Positioning System for 2009

Even before 2009 dawned, many of us found ourselves at crossroads of one sort or another; one crisis or moment of decision where we just did not know which way to turn or which path to take.  I certainly experienced several of those times in December 2008. I needed God’s Positioning System to guide my next move, my next decision.  Fortunately, I was led to Jeremiah 6:16 where the answer was given, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Though speaking to the Israelites centuries ago, Jeremiah’s suggestions for handling those difficult decisions in our life are as applicable today as back then. Jeremiah advised us to simply “stand.”  Be still long enough to surrender the complex situation to God.  Yet, while we’re standing we’re advised to “look,” to be attentive, to listen for God’s voice directing us. As the prophet Habakkuk wrote, “I will look to see what He will say to me.” During this period of being still and looking we must spend some time in consultation (prayer) with the Lord, asking Him to reveal through His word how He has dealt with His people throughout history, “the ancient path” and learn from it. Also, we should ask Him to bring to our remembrance all of those times He has been faithful to us personally; those times when He has brought us through valley experiences. After the period of reflection and the history lesson, we are now ready for God to activate His Positioning System, as we express our desire to take the “good way,” the best route; the route that honors Him. Here is where we go from being lost to moving forward in faith. At this point, the Lord resets the GPS, and gives us permission to “walk” in the good way that He has mapped out for us.

“Rest” is the ultimate reward activating God’s Positioning System.  So, as we face the challenges of 2009, let’s remember Jeremiah’s recommendations to stand, look, inquire, remember God’s faithfulness, and walk in the good way. When He has guided us to our desired destination, when that particular situation or decision has been resolved, we are at peace with the decision.  I like Jeremiah’s plan, and intend to use it, not just during those difficult times, but daily in 2009.  I hope you will, too.

Maddie, a student at Maybeury Elementary School in Henrico County, Caroline Goggins of Collegiate School in Richmond, and Erin Reedy of Maybeury Elementary are supporting efforts of Awer Bol, known as one of the Lost Boys.

This is a big project for such small children.
The girls first met Awer Bol when he came to a book club to talk about being a Lost Boy of Sudan. They had never heard the term before. The Lost Boys were following a group of people as they looked to escape war in a small village in the African nation of Sudan. He was separated from his family at age 7 and had to walk hundreds of miles out of Sudan and into Ethiopia, finally making it to a refugee camp.

Awer saw people die, and later learned that two of his own siblings didn’t survive the war. He eventually made it to America when he was 17, and to speak to the book club when he was 25.

The girls say even though he has faced tragedy, he is a very positive person and wants to make the world a better place. He is working to install a well in his village of Wangalei, and a grinding mill and a school.
Last summer, Maddie’s church helped the village of Gulu in Uganda, Africa, build a well. So the girls put their ideas together and decided to have a bake sale for Awer’s well on Dec. 13, a cold Saturday morning.

Lots of people helped bake everything from cookies and pies to cupcakes and muffins. Women in the Van Lew Literary Society (the book club) baked a lot of items. Einstein Bagels at Gayton Crossing in Henrico allowed the sale on the sidewalk outside the store. Other businesses steered their customers to the sale. And a bank security guard at Gayton Crossing sent lots of people, too.
Through sales and donations, the girls made $1,800 in one day, and are now at $2,000 toward a goal of $5,000.
The “Walk for the Well” will advance their efforts to help Awer and those in his village.
Sponsors will donate what they can for each mile walked.

With the help of Lynn Ellen Queen, Awer has started a nonprofit organization called United Families for Sudan to raise money for his projects. Those interested in sponsoring the girls for the “Walk for the Well” can call (804) 741-6777.

Queen and her husband, the Rev. Bill Queen of All Saints Episcopal Church, sponsored Awer when he first arrived in the United States and was living at the Virginia Home for Boys. Awer is now a senior fine-arts major at Virginia Commonwealth University. Those who have seen his images of Africa in pen-and-ink drawings describe them as “stunning.”
Joni Albrecht, Maddie’s mom, talked about the girls’ willingness to help Awer and people in Sudan. “I’m so happy to see these kids grasp how life-changing something like fresh water can be, and how life-changing just helping someone can be,” she said. Of Awer, she said “He carries with him hope, not bitterness. I’m so grateful that he is willing to share that hope with the people he meets.

Maybe you can share hope by helping, too.

Don’t give the outcome of your day to whims of the world.  Don’t give it to your boss, your banker or even this blogger. You have the power to make this day the best day of your life. Who else is going to make it great?  Me? I can’t. I am busy trying to make mine great. When you are in control of your day, you declare that you are seizing the reigns in your own life. No one likes a back-seat driver. So why let someone else steer your life?

You might say, “I have to punch a clock, I ‘m not in control.“  Just because you have responsibilities does not mean that you do not have control. You decided to show up to punch the clock. Make your day great by helping someone else.  Make it great by being a good steward over your time and your talents. Make a difference in the community. Do whatever you have to do to make it a great day.

If you’re waiting to save money or get out of debt, the last quarter of 2008 was the best time to start.  With so many people going into debt over Christmas, what better time to start (this goes for losing weight as well)? Why would you wait for January to get a better job if you are unhappy where you are?  If there is an area in your life you want to change, start now. Put a plan together and start moving. Get some accountability partners. Put pictures up around you of what the new you will look like in your new house, or out of debt, or having shed those unwanted pounds.  Focus on a new you and not just a new year and you will see change happen.

So don’t make anymore resolutions for the new year.  Make one every morning!  Resolve to be the best you that you can be each day while you go after every dream.

Think about the job that you really want.  Or the class that you want to take.  Go after your dreams like never before. Why wait! Obama, Jones, Kaine and even London (go Spiders) are off to a great start for a new year.  Adopt their mindset that the impossible is possible.  Be willing to work not for your own paycheck, but so that you can assist someone in getting theirs. 

This new year is packed with possibilities.  Can you see them?  They are right in front of your face.  Spend more time with family.  Read more and watch less television. Work out regularly and eat less.  Renew an old friendship.  But most importantly, live life to the fullest.  Make the most of this new year and “raise the bar.“ 

After experiencing frightening respiratory distress, gasping for air and chest tightening while driving, I pulled my car into the store’s parking lot just off U.S. 301. I was heading south on a return trip to Richmond after a long weekend. Thank God I had the presence of mind to get off the highway before I hurt myself or others.

A store clerk was outside taking a break. I frantically called to her for help, asking her to dial 911. She did. In a couple of minutes, an EMS unit responded and transported me, unconscious, to a nearby hospital. I spent several days recovering there.

I later learned that two store employees, Barbara and Amanda (no last names known), made the call that literally saved me from a near-fatal incident. They could have ignored my plea or could’ve chosen to be discouraged by the possibility of giving in to a suspicious stranger.

I never got to speak to those women again after I was taken to the ER. I mailed a thank-you letter, but they may never really understand the extent of my gratitude for their outstanding and quick response.

Some days, it’s just good to know somebody cares. Dec. 16 was my day.

That Good Samaritan could be you helping someone in 2009. Be ready.

Tradition also teaches that the Hanukkah menorah should ideally be lit lower than most candles. The Kabbalah (mystical commentaries on the Bible), explain that these laws teach us that on Hanukkah, God’s Light comes down lower than the rest of the year (like the candles that are lit low), and that every Jew, even one who is usually estranged from Torah, is “lit up” spiritually on Hanukkah. This teaching shows us that there is a tremendous spiritual light intrinsically in Hanukkah, and that Jews are drawn to this holiday not because of its proximity to the holidays of our friends and neighbors, but because Hanukkah is special on its own.

The Kabbalists and Hasidic masters teach that the last day of Hanukkah is really the last day of the Yom Kippur season of atonement.  That’s what is going on here, why this holiday is such a big draw, because God is calling out to have a chance again to be right with Him, to atone and be at one, to know that miracles can still happen even in the cold, dark winter, as long as we remember him and have faith.

I recently did a word study of “through” in preparation for a sermon. The definition I like best is to “move from one point, usually to an opposite point.”  In life, it is when you find yourself on the other side of a difficult situation. In Isaiah 43, the Lord repeatedly assures the Israelites who were in captivity in Babylon of His faithfulness to bring them through.  No doubt, they remembered that He had brought them through the Red Sea experience, through the desert, and through the horrors of bondage in Egypt. As He brought them through, He reaffirmed His faithfulness to the covenant relationship He had with them.  Well, that same God is bringing us “through” our Red Sea situations today: economic upheaval, health challenges, poverty, and homelessness, just to name a few.  He is the same God about whom the psalmist wrote, “Yea thou I walk through the valley and the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me…” He is the same God that put a sling shot in a young shepherd boy’s hands to conquer the giant, Goliath.  These biblical events and and our personal testimonies should remind us that God is willing and able to slay our giants, too.  God is with us in and “through” every trial, every situation.  How do we know this?  “Because you are precious, and honored, and I love you,” He told the Israelites.  That’s reason enough, don’t you think?  The challenge for most of us is to trust our loving Lord to guide, and, yes, more often than not to “carry” us through our most difficult moments.  He is truly faithful.  He loves us.

This past weekend, I visited some residents at Southside Virginia Training Center in Dinwiddie County. I was accompanying a group of youths from the church I attend. The 20 or so youngsters, along with several other adult leaders, kicked off the Christmas season at the state-run mental-health complex. Carols, poems and a skit were the highlight of the afternoon.

SVTC houses individuals with moderate to severe developmental problems. Most of these adults have limited speech and mobility, and/or have physical disabilities. But they can respond and react to things going on around them. They were very aware of the young visitors and smiled when serenaded with cheery Christmas greetings.

The kids could have been at home watching the football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Or they could’ve been enjoying one of the blockbuster movies showing at local theaters. But in the spirit of love, the pre-teens and teens huddled to entertain STVC residents eager for compassion. Many of the residents rarely have visitors.

With all the flack kids get these days, I’m glad to see many of them doing good things to brighten the lives of others, whether it’s singing at SVTC, caroling at the neighborhood community center or collecting contributions for the Salvation Army.

We like to think that young people are just pining for trips to toy or electronics stores this time of year to load up on gifts they want. But the next time you see a 14-year-old doing good deeds (not just at Christmas), celebrate the time and energy spent giving, making a difference for others.

Hail our children during the holidays. Through songs and caring, the youngsters are celebrating Christ’s birth. Two thousand years ago, people didn’t know who he was.

Look closely today, because you might find a miracle sparkling through the joy in someone’s eyes.

Every good thing isn’t found under the Christmas tree or on store shelves. There are greater gifts. What about giving our friends and neighbors compassion, forgiveness and good will?

For instance, there’s Mrs. Ruby in the nursing home. She loves to sing and was known for belting a sweet tune or two at Christmastime. Now she can’t remember most of her friends, let alone a Christmas carol. Mrs. Ruby still needs a little laugh and lots of cheer. She and her home mates need to know they’re not forgotten.

I have a couple of friends in prison _ Joey and Mike _ who did bad things. I’m not condoning their actions, but I know they are languishing in loneliness while they’re being punished for their crimes. They won’t enjoy the holiday fun they once shared with family and friends. I’ll send up a prayer and let these guys know I’m thinking of them by sending a card of encouragement.

Sons and daughters of some folks I know are serving in the Middle East. Although the military branches are making the holidays as bright as possible given the circumstances, I know it must be scary to be separated from loved ones and in harm’s way at what should be the happiest time of the year. The hope is that these soldiers make it back whole and healthy in 2009, and that someday peace might come as a result.

Some folks I’ve never met are sleeping outside in cardboard boxes at night. These guys wrap themselves in a bundle of blankets, pad up with sweaters and longjohns, and still manage to thank God for life. Also, there are those who receive the benefits of agencies for homeless people such as CARITAS. At least they have indoor shelter and food at some Richmond-area churches.

One of my friends is laid up in a local hospital, wondering if his condition will improve enough for him to make it home for Christmas. Maybe you’ve never known how it feels to eagerly listen for the sound of a squeaky dinner cart rolling to your room, loaded with trays containing the featured dish of the day. Meanwhile, your buddies back home are feasting at a holiday party, sipping nog, sampling rum balls and snacking on bean dip and crackers. And let’s not forget the caregivers who try to make the season bearable just by working on the holiday.

So you think you’re a little down because the economy’s out of control and the wallet’s a little flat this year? Review my list above, then count your blessings.

People spend hours doing good deeds and offering acts of kindness this time of year. It’s contagious, sometimes therapeutic. But soon, post-holiday, get-back-to-normal life sets in. By the first of the year, the compassionate bubble bursts.

Some of us will be at the point where we turn our heads when we see the “Will work for food” signs. We’ll complain when we hear or see news reports about spiraling unemployment, homelessness and depression. Long lines of jobless scouring for work become sobering reminders that we might be joining these folks in coming days. Yes, it could be you. Could be me.

But I’m an optimist at heart and in spirit. Some people call it faith.

So when the ginger cookies are gone, the pies are a distant memory and holiday leftovers become blessings to the pets, what will you have to inspire people who stood in this month’s feeding lines or who were recipients of the well-stocked food baskets?

Can’t say “Happy Thanksgiving” or “Merry Christmas.”

But you can stop among those folks and ask how they’re doing and wish them well.

And saying “I care” works anywhere, anytime of year. Don’t throw out your caring and compassionate spirit with the tinsel garland and wrapping paper. Decorate someone’s life in March, July and September by giving the gift of love.

God’s ears will be burning next Thursday as prayers flow from private homes, hospital rooms, public housing, prisons and everywhere in between. There will be delicious meals with all the fixings prepared at Grandma’s place, dished out at homeless shelters and shared at churches. You know the deal _ roast turkey, oyster stuffing, cranberry sauce, wild rice, smooth brown gravy, green beans, sweet potato casserole, carrot cake. It’s all the stuff I dream of but won’t have, trying to do right by my doctor and fighting to take better care of myself. Please note that my dreams don’t always come true!

Beyond a bountiful meal, though, are lots of things I could cackle about. A loving family. Hilarious husband. Caring co-workers. Cool classmates. And most days, I feel pretty good.

The last time I stepped outside at midday, I saw the puffiest clouds and a bright, beaming sun. Brown and gold leaves crackled underfoot and a brisk wind smacked my face. A nippy night helped me de-stress and think about how I made it through a challenging day.

Could’ve been the other way.

But I was blessed to see all of these things in a year filled with new beginnings and opportunities.

There will never be another 2008. And despite some setbacks and obstacles, life has been good.

I’m so thankful for all of the things that make me a better person and live a more meaningful life. Even stuff that causes me anguish and disappointment. Those experiences make me stronger.

And so have you, dear viewers.

Know what? I’ve decided I don’t need one day in November to call attention to my good times.

When I think about it, every day is a day of thanksgiving.

These decades-old lyrics from crooner Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me” came to mind recently as I watched two old guys during a ceremony at church.

We often talk about honoring elders and paying respect to those who have been role models of wisdom and good works. But these guys, both well into their 80s, were taking care of one another as friends and spiritual leaders.

I’ll set up the scenario for you. The two old men (one short in stature with white, wooly hair; the other taller, frail and walking wobbly) marched in a procession celebrating new deacons. As the double-file lines of about 20 men passed my row in the sanctuary, the shorter fellow linked his arm tight to the weaker brother’s elbow, holding him steady. The subtle show of strength and friendship was a sight to behold.

Perhaps no one else noticed, but for me it was an example I’ll never forget. You see, both of these guys have their personal issues, physical and family. You’d find it hard to believe that either one was up to participating in a long, taxing ceremony. Yet both stepped slowly and steadily, eager to offer support for the newcomers about to be ordained.

I was reminded of these words from Romans 13:9, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. “(KJV)

I had to think about the last time I literally offered my shoulder (or arm) for someone to lean on. Often, I’m the one seeking a shoulder to help bear my burdens. I realized that as we face this intersection of change in our communities and in our country, I’ll need to reassess how I will help carry out the hope and the vision that so easily falls eloquent from our lips. Bracing for change is sometimes painful and shoring up the load can be a lot to handle.

Pay attention the next time you have an opportunity to help someone carry their load. A steady arm or a simple smile can be a welcome lift. Observing my two elder friends taught me a new meaning for “Lean on Me.”  It’s a lesson I don’t want YOU to forget.

I am out of the country for the next 12 days and will be traveling to the Manila, Philippines and Suva, Fiji to attend a leadership summit.  Our country may have its issues, but I miss her.  Here are list of the reasons I miss home.  I want to encourage you to list out your reasons for loving America and to share them on this blog.

1. Football (American Football)
2. You can fit in if you are tall (In America I would never be mistaken for Michael Jordan)
3. Diversity (God has blessed America with every color on the planet)
4. Government Assistance (The public housing in Manila, pails in comparison to ours)
5. Sports Bars (Oh how I miss Buffalo Wild Wings)
6. Eco-friendly (We have a long way to go; but we have made great strides)
7. Christmas in December (In the Philippines they celebrate Christmas from Oct-Dec; kinda of cool though)
8. A Middle Class (even though it might be shrinking, we still have one)
9. Village of Faith (I miss the church that I pastor)
10 Family (Dorothy said it best, there is no place like home - I miss the family)

“What happens when a flash point occurs? And what happens when the people that are willing to speak about religion are the ones that want to push hate.  Just because you don’t talk about religion it does not mean that religion is not being talked about. 

There are four prominent trends that we must understand:
1) Youth bulge - 70% of Iran is under 30.  There are more youth in India than the entire population of the United States. 
2) We live in age of religious revival - The whispers of faith are everywhere. Religion is a powerful tool.
3)  We are watching the breakdown of socio-economic lines. The lives your parents lead is no longer available to you. This is of concern to those who had a very traditionalist lifestyle. 
4)  We live in the more interactional time than any other time. Communication technology has broken down these lines. If you were an evangelical in Virginia Beach, a few years ago you only knew of people going to church on Sunday.
 
So what happens when a Buddhist comes to your school?  So when you are faced with these changes you ask, “Who am I and what I am meant to do?”

The intersection of these four trends, who understands that energy best? Al-Qaeda does as does the Christian Identity movement in America. These groups are attracting people to the vision of religious extremism. We need to push back against this. 

As Dr. Martin Luther King spoke about the “color line” we now have what I call the faith line. It is no longer black vs. white or red vs. yellow.  We need to define the line.  The line is now religious pluralist vs. religious totalitarians.

Patel puts forth three steps in becoming interfaith leaders:
1) Sing a beautiful song- we need to sing the song of interfaith cooperation.  The preachers of hate are singing it loud.  Our song should be for us to first understand our own faith story.
2) Teach others to sing.  Others can sing their own songs of interfaith cooperation in their own tradition.
3) Help each of them become their own choir directors.

Patel opened the Nov. 13 annual meeting of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy with reflections from election night, when he put his son to sleep and, “I whispered in his ear that tomorrow you will wake up in a new day, God willing.“

Patel takes us through the spiritual journey that Dr. Martin Luther King went through, which started when he heard the sermon from Mahatma Gandhi in 1952. King said, “Jesus Christ came down with the message, Gandhi showed us the method.”

Ward Scull was awarded 2008 Citizen Advocate of the year and Delegate Glenn Oder is being awarded 2008 Legislator of the Year by the center for their work in curbing (through legislation) the predatory nature of pay-day lending.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Patel to discuss his experience at Oxford University.

“I went to a state school and I had very little experience with the American elite,“ Patel said.

As he writes in his book, “Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, The Struggle for the Soul of a Generation,“  he soon realized that reading the New Yorker magazine (or not having read it) separated him from the world of the elite students that attended Oxford.

This holiday season Operation Gratitude plans to send more than 70,000 care packages to troops deployed overseas and hopes to get enough submissions from the contest to include at least one letter in every box. To meet this goal, Operation Gratitude needs students, parents, teachers, and all caring Americans to write letters.

The “Letters To Our Troops” contest will provide Americans a way to show their appreciation for our troops overseas and help raise money for schools at the same time.

To enter the contest, participants can visit http://dearhero.opgratitude.com and click on the “Write a Letter” button. Upon registration and submission of their letters, participants will be entered to win one of three prize packages, which will include gift cards, a grand prize of $2,000 donated to the elementary or high school of the winner’s choice, a $250 gift card and a $100 iTunes gift card.

The winning letter will be included in Operation Gratitude’s milestone 400,000th care package in December.

A second prize will be $1,000 donated to the elementary or high school of the winner’s choice, a $50 gift certificate and a $50 iTunes gift card.

A third prize offers $500 donated to the elementary or high school of winner’s choice, a $25 gift certificate and a $15 iTunes gift card.

According to Carolyn Blashek, founder of Operation Gratitude, “We encourage everyone to participate in this unique and rewarding opportunity to thank those men and women in uniform who will not be home with loved ones this oliday sdeason,“ said Carolyn Blashek, Founder of Operation Gratitude. “The impact of a personal letter is incalculable,“ she continued. “As one service member wrote: ‘The care package was great! However, at the end of the day, I had eaten the snacks and watched the DVD; but there was a letter from a young school girl that really touched my heart. I folded it up and put it in my helmet. That letter goes with me everywhere and I will cherish it always.‘ “

The contest, designed and hosted by Strutta Media Inc. (http://www.strutta.com ), is open to all U.S. residents and runs through Dec.12. All appropriate letters submitted in the contest will be sent to service members via Operation Gratitude care packages.

Maybe you can help.

Who would have believe that after 9-11, the PATRIOT Act, Guantanamo, Abu Gharaiib, CIA renditions and the NSA spying on Americans that a man with a Kenyan father who shared a middle name with a former dictator who we supported then deposed (and executed) and has a last name that uncannily rhymes with our ultimate nemesis who has yet to be caught or killed, would be the president of the United States?  There is no other country in the world in which such a thing can happen.  Can you imagine a French of Moroccan ancestry becoming the president of France? 

In chapter 8, verse 30 of the Quran God says, “...They plot and plan, and God too plans; but the best of planners is God.“ 

I cannot help but think that perhaps this is part of the Divine plan to bring back our moral standing and authority that we once commanded from the rest of the world.  Let us hope that Senator Obama has the wisdom and judgment to understand and resist the corruptions of power. If he does then he has the potential to go down as one of the greatest presidents in the history of this country.

This election is more than about race.  In addition to the stock scripts from which both party candidates have read, there were issues of age, class, gender, patriotism, intelligence and the one stealth issue, the size of one’s God.

During the invocation at Senator McCain’s rally in Iowa last month, Pastor Arnold Conrad asked God to protect His own Self from embarrassment should Senator Obama lose.  Pastor Conrad said:

“I would also pray, Lord, that your reputation is involved in all that happens between now and November, because there are millions of people around this world praying to their god–whether it’s Hindu, Buddha, Allah–that his opponent wins, for a variety of reasons.  And Lord, I pray that you will guard your own reputation, because they’re going to think that their God is bigger than you, if that happens.  So I pray that you will step forward and honor your own name with all that happens between now and Election Day.“

That is what I am eagerly waiting to find out. I want to find out which God is bigger because apparently the might and reputation of God hinges on the results of the U.S. Presidential election.  Should Senator Obama win then that would mean that the God of the United States is smaller than the God from “Hindu, Buddha, [or] Allah.“  And if Senator McCain wins that would mean that our God is bigger. 

The only logical conclusion that can be drawn is that that not only is God an American but that God is a Republican.

From which basement did Pastor Conrad obtain his divinity training?  Perhaps while up late one night and channel surfing he felt the whisper of the Lord and he decided to answer an infomercial in which one could earn his or her GED, BA and theology degree in one fell swoop.

I am not a theologian and frankly I do not even know exactly what a theologian does. However, I have enough sense to know that 1) there is only one Deity and 2) the size of that Deity is infinite and definite, not waxing and wayning like the appearance of the moon.

In early October, six New Kent deputies, two dispatchers and their spouses and girlfriends piled into four vehicles for the 18-hour drive to Biloxi. What they saw was encouraging. The city had made a lot of progress in rebuilding.

“We’d seen the place at its worst. We said we’d really like to go back,” said Sgt. Lee Bailey of the New Kent sheriff’s deputies.

Three years ago, some New Kent sheriff’s employees traveled to the Gulf Coast city to help with duties such as answering phones, patrolling roads, working with the Biloxi Police Department and assisting at Red Cross distribution sites, Bailey said.

”There was total devastation,” he said. “It was unbelievable how much damage was caused by the hurricane.”

Bailey described how street signs and bridges were gone. “And some stuff we saw the first time wasn’t there this time,” he said of vacant lots where debris and buildings had been moved.

Now, “the debris was gone and the traffic signals restored. Some of the homes had been rebuilt but smaller.”

Although Katrina had ravaged the city, the sheriff’s employees discovered some good in the midst of disaster. They had built lasting relationships in Biloxi. “These were some of the nicest people we had ever met.

“We developed a bond with the Biloxi Police Department. We’re still in contact with them,” Bailey said.

Going to the Gulf Coast will be a lasting memory, he said. “It was a lifechanging experience.”
And helping those in need helped build bonds and instilled a great lesson in compassion, he said.

“You never know when you’re going to meet rough times. It would be nice to know that there’s somebody to help.”

That would be an apt description of 9-year-old Zachary Melancon of Glen Allen. I spoke with the Echo Lake Elementary School fourth-grader, asking him to explain why he initiated an idea that could result in brighter days for sick children who need a boost and a way to play.

Zachary is a Webkinz kind of kid. He loves the virtual plush pets and the fun that comes with playing Webkinz on the computer. There are daily activities, weekly contests, games and lots of wholesome things to do.

Zachary, a Cub Scout, wants to see sick kids enjoy Webkinz, too. So the kind-hearted boy dreamed up the idea that if children in hospitals could have laptops, they could have a diversion from their illnesses and enjoy the world of Webkinz.

He thought of how laptop computers could tap into WiFi so kids could play online while in their hospital beds.

“I’d probably feel pretty good about it,” Zachary said of fulfilling his project.

His dad, Ron Melancon, decided his son was on to something good. Now the whole family is trying to grow the idea into a project that will help others. His mother, Dawn, also supports the cause. He has a 4-year-old sister, Megan.

“This was all his idea,” Ron Melancon said. “I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

When Zachary took his idea to school, he was allowed to share it in an “announcement,” he said. Classmates and teachers have been encouraging, he said.

Now, his day care is considering becoming a collection site for laptops that can be used for Zachary’s project.

“And maybe Ukrop’s can help,” the boy said.

Zachary’s father, is trying to coordinate collection efforts so his son might realize his dream.

And it fits right in with Pastor Warren’s description of doing good.

Sounds like the laptop idea is on a roll. If you’d like to know more, call the Melancons at (804) 270-3727.
 

    Consequently, I couldn’t let October 2008 end without writing this celebratory blog to encourage all those men and women who have been affected by breast cancer to love, live, and laugh. Live each day, each moment, as though it were your last day or moment on earth.  Spend some time each day away from the hubbub of life to reflect, to contemplate, to pray, and to observe the wonders of Creation. Try a daily dose of spiritual medication to enhance the prescribe medication…the results are often miraculous.

According to Jack, ‘It’s over. Barack has won and he will be one of the worst US presidents.“

It turns out that while Jack, a Catholic and staunch conservative republican, voted for JFK therefore proof that he can cross party lines, his biggest question regarding Senator Obama is his patriotism.

“I question his patriotism,“ Jack said.

A recent Google search for “barak obama unpatriotic” returned 1,900,000 hits.  The Washington Post has an excellent article that examines Obama’s unpatriotic nature, which is everything from stranding with his back (as were Governor Richardson and Senator Clinton’s) backs to the flag, to his association to a 60’s radical.  Weigh those claims against the fact the beauty pageant runner-up Sarah Palin spoke at the Alaskan Independence Party convention less than six-months ago. 

Thus the proverbial rhetorical question, “Who is less patriotic, Obama for not wearing a flag pin or Palin for supporting the secession of Alaska from the US?“

The more accurate question one must ask is, “What is patriotism and what does it mean to be an American?“

Is it the size of one’s flag in the yard? (If you are asking the US or Confederate flag, then you are getting the point!)
Is it the size of one’s shotgun mounted above the fireplace?
Is it the number of hotdogs one can eat on 4th of July?
Is the fact that one can only speak English and is proud it?

I would serious like to know what our readers think.  What is patriotism and what does it mean to be an American?“

Organizers of the race, including Speedway Children’s Charities, want to raise awareness of Samaritan’s Feet, an international humanitarian organization founded by Manny Ohonme. Among other things, Samaritan’s Feet strives to demonstrate compassion by washing and equipping children’s feet with shoes, and touching their hearts with the love of God.

On Oct. 11, Ohonme will begin a two-week, 300-mile, barefoot walk from Charlotte to Atlanta to increase awareness of more than 300 million children around the world who have never owned a pair of shoes. Ohonme already knows what that’s like because he grew up as a poor child in Nigeria, West Africa. That’s what inspired Samaritan’s Feet.

The spiffy race car will travel with Ohonme and his supporters as part of the walk from Charlotte. Speedway Children’s Charities collaborates with nonprofit organizations nationwide, and SCC’s local chapters provide grants to help children in their communities. Last year, SCC awarded more than $3.3million to more than 510 organizations. Find more about SCC at http://www.speedwaycharities.org.

Learn about Samaritan’s Feet online and get details about participating and making contributions. Visit http://www.samaritansfeet.org.

NASCAR’s Bires is asking race fans, TV viewers, and the public to go online and make donations or pledge to walk with Ohonme.

See if you can do some good.

Organizers of the race, including Speedway Children’s Charities, want to raise awareness of Samaritan’s Feet, an international humanitarian organization founded by Manny Ohonme. Among other things, Samaritan’s Feet strives to demonstrate compassion by washing and equipping children’s feet with shoes, and touching their hearts with the love of God.

On Oct. 11, Ohonme will begin a two-week, 300-mile, barefoot walk from Charlotte to Atlanta to increase awareness of more than 300 million children around the world who have never owned a pair of shoes. Ohonme already knows what that’s like because he grew up as a poor child in Nigeria, West Africa. That’s what inspired Samaritan’s Feet.

The spiffy race car will travel with Ohonme and his supporters as part of the walk from Charlotte. Speedway Children’s Charities collaborates with nonprofit organizations nationwide, and SCC’s local chapters provide grants to help children in their communities. Last year, SCC awarded more than $3.3million to more than 510 organizations. Find more about SCC at http://www.speedwaycharities.org.

Learn about Samaritan’s Feet online and get details about participating and making contributions. Visit http://www.samaritansfeet.org.

NASCAR’s Bires is asking race fans, TV viewers, and the public to go online and make donations or pledge to walk with Ohonme.

See if you can do some good.

I find it interesting that current events are so connected to this.  In Psalm 90:3, it says “You turn a man to the edge of destruction and say ‘return ye children of man!‘“  The message is that life is not forever, and anything can and does happen, but if we return from our wicked ways, God gives us a bail out, a new chance to start over again, but His bail out is unlimited, infinite, for just as “a thousand years are as yesterday when past” (ibid. 4), so too $700,000,000,000 are like nothing to Him, and He can give us all of the good things in this world and the next, if we recognize that we are not in control of our destiny, but rather He is.  “O satisfy us in the morning with Thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days”  (ibid. 14)

May we all be sealed for a good, happy, and prosperous year, both materially and spiritually.

A local “Community Kindness” calendar is coming Nov. 1. Churches, community groups, nonprofit agencies and businesses have listed events in the calendar by SpotlightRichmond.com, whose vision is to “celebrate the good things that are happening in our community; the everyday miracles and many acts of kindness,” according to the organization’s Web site.

The 2009 calendar will feature original illustrations that reflect 12 kindness events that will take place in the community. It’s a first for the organization, said Karen Hannon, organizer of the project and president of SpotlightRichmond.com. They’ve already filed for nonprofit status.

“I think so much good takes place, but we don’t always hear about it,” Hannon said. The purpose of the calendar is to showcase activities and events that raise awareness about acts of kindness and good deeds.

That covers anything “given, received or observed,” Hannon said. Sounds like Hannon and I are thinking alike.

The project will raise money, too. For example, groups can “purchase calendars below cost for $2 each, then resell at $9.99 and earn $7.99 for each calendar sold,” Hannon said. The deadline for orders is Oct. 7.

Groups that listed their kind-acts efforts for the calendar _ everything from festivals to fundraisers to service projects _ will have a head start publicizing events for the coming year. If you support them, that means more money.

Ukrop’s will be selling Community Kindness calendars for $9.99 each, Hannon said. Proceeds will go to Community Kindness.

Online calendar listings are already available on the SpotlightRichmond Web site. For instance, it lists the 3rd Annual Wide Open Doors Conference for the Disability Community scheduled for Oct. 18 and 19 in Moseley, and provides a contact for more information. Who knew?

I’ll bet that annual church bake sale or club car wash to raise money are likely candidates, too.

Whether perusing SpotlightRichmond’s paper version in November or searching its Web calendar now, all you need to do is choose what you’d like to support and show up when it’s time.

“The inclusiveness of it is what excites me most,” Hannon said.

Call her for more information or to place your calendar order at (804) 874-4591. Or visit http://www.SpotlightRichmond.com.

Use this blog to tell us about good deeds, too _ given, received or observed. People really do want to know.

Ramadan should be unofficially called the Islamic Month of Jihad.  We need to control our tongue that is the Jihad of the tongue (Jihad al-lisan).  We need to control what we do with our hand that is the Jihad of the hand (Jihad al-yad).  And the ultimate jihad is waged against one’s own whims and desires (Jihad al-Nafs). 

And so as the end of Ramadan neared a few days ago you wished that it could continue.  And then stark realization that all aspects of Ramadan will be missed and it overwhelms you.  One especially longs for the of spirituality that is reached during Ramadan.  And as nearly 2,000 Muslims gathered at the Showplace to celebrate Eid Al-Fitr (the Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan) there is a deep sinking feeling that after today the humdrum of life will return and we will return to our mundane routines.

She was named Woman of the Year at Zion Baptist Church in Petersburg, for doing good all her life. Richardson, 75, is one of those people who works admirably in church and in the community, almost always behind the scenes. For instance, when it’s time to help feed homeless, hungry men at the shelter, she’s often among the first to say “I will.”  And when someone’s sick, she’s there to send a card of encouragement.

During a service Sunday, her children honored her with accolades and a song. One of them even told how in Richardson’s younger years, this divorced mother dutifully, single-handedly nudged her children to church, all six kids in tow. The benefits have had a ripple effect in subsequent generations. Many folks outside her immediate family recall Richardson’s unwavering counsel, faithfulness and service at Zion through the years. Seems like she’s always got energy to spare.

Lord knows she’s had her storms. Among them, the tragedy of a son who was shot in the head during a robbery many years ago. She lovingly, slowly nursed him back to health. He has recovered but still cannot speak as a result of his injury. It was the love of his mom and the community that lifted him from the grip of possible death. In his own way, he returns that love by planting a harmless kiss on the cheek of us girls who know him.

Yes, Richardson got an engraved plaque and a standing ovation during the Woman of the Year presentation. Yet her life’s work has been without fanfare. The Woman of the Year designation is pretty common in some churches. But people such as Richardson have an uncommon spirit. That’s what sets her apart.

It’s great when we can serve others without fighting about who gets credit. I know there are others out there like Vashti Richardson. I’d love to hear those stories. Care to share them in the DoGood blog? C’mon with the comments. This may be the only place you have to tell the world about it.

The first Unity minister I met told me about one of her seminary classmates who had a time when she just didn’t have the money to pay quarterly tuition and it was running very close to deadline.  Wherever and whenever she walked to classes in her last remaining days before the money was due, she could be heard vigorously claiming, “Jehovah-jireh!“  And, the money arrived from somewhere - just in time. 

So I looked up the word combination in the Bible and found it in Darby’s New Translation of the Bible.  It’s in Genesis chapter 22.  To paraphrase what happened - Abraham was told by God to take his only son Isaac to the top of a mountain and sacrifice him.  Abraham followed God’s direction and even reached the point of bindng up his son and laying him on the altar.  At this point an angel of the Lord told Abraham God was very pleased with his absolute commitment and devotion to God signified by being willing to sacrifice his son.  Then the angel told Abraham to look at the nearby bushes and when he did he saw a ram trapped in the bush by his horns.  The angel told Abraham to release his son and make the ram his sacrifice.  The angel then told Abraham that God would bless him and all his descendents from the time on.

And it was then that Abraham named that mountain place Jehovah-jireh which translated means God will provide! 

I encourage each person who reads this to begin repeating this combination word often - whenever you move into fear, concern about yourself and/or your family or others.  Repeat it firmly. 

For friends, we can only hold one thought in our mind at a time - so every time a fear thought arises simply bless it, release it and claim Jehovah-jireh!
For God will provide!  Always!  and in all ways!

Blessings of peace, love and joy to you!  Joyce

The boys and some supporters conducted a collection drive, assembled items then delivered gifts to veterans at Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center in South Richmond. On Sept. 23, the boys presented gift bags to about 75 patients in the spinal-injury unit at McGuire. It was a thank-you to those who have been injured in service to the U.S.

Each vet received a gift bag containing writing paper, pens and pencils, playing cards, mints and gum, lip-balm sticks, toiletries and books. A cart of books and books on CDs were left at the McGuire library.

Vets ranged in experience from World War II to the Iraq War. Many were from out of state _ North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland.

In conversations with the vets, the boys told them about their Scouting experience. But, more importantly, they asked about the veterans’ service _ where they served, what branch, how long, what their jobs were.  They also discussed sports, and whether or not the vets had been Scouts.

The coordinator for the spinal-injury unit commended the Scouts for their excellent behavior and engagement with the vets, and encouraged them to return. I’ll bet they’ll go back.

And you know what? You can be a trooper at any age.

I discovered someone like that last week while I was feeling really crappy. Rick Bucher, an ordained United Methodist minister and Powhatan County resident stepped in to make sure I was OK.

Bucher is a Chesterfield County firefighter and recognized that I was in distress. I didn’t think I was sick enough to dial 911. But I guess I’m like a lot of other folks who try to self-diagnose and avoid calling the doctor or seek help in an emergency. I told him I’d be just fine.

But as time passed, I wasn’t feeling any better and Bucher was determined he’d stay by my side. He carried my stuff. He walked to the parking lot and brought my car to me so I wouldn’t have to walk far. I insisted that he not delay is plans because of me. He answered: “I’m not leaving you alone.”

My blessing was that I was in the right place at the right time with someone who had training in emergency medical services. He didn’t have to administer first aid, but I sure felt better that he was around and offered his prayers and comforting words.

When we split up, it was late at night and we would be traveling in different directions. I must admit I was a little scared, but I made it home alright.

Bucher is pastor of Thomas Chapel United Methodist Church in Cumberland County. Maybe every minister isn’t a professional paramedic, but Bucher’s congregation can be assured that he is a preacher who leads by example. He was willing, available and ready to serve.

I’m sure glad he was there when I needed him. He lived the Gospel by doing something to help me. Good news.  Good deed. Thanks Rev. Rick.

“Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

    The billy club was first introduced in England during the Victorian Age.  It was originally intended to be used by law enforcement officers to protect them from attacks.  During the Civil Rights Movement in America (1950s and 1960s), the billy club or night stick, as it is commonly known, earned its bad reputation, as it was used indiscriminately on protesters.  Therefore, many of us tend to regard the billy club with a negative connotation. However, it is in the vein of the former purpose that I’d like to suggest believers use it to ward off daily attacks from Satan.  Every believer has had an encounter with the devil.  If you haven’t, just keep on living; you’ll find yourself being bombarded with his lies, deceit, discouragement, betrayal, grief, loneliness, and a host of other negative things he has in his arsenal to try and defeat the children of God. 

    We may not realize that we can repel Satan with billy clubs powered by God.  We have the indwelling of God’s Spirit, for 1 John 4: 4 teaches “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.”  When Satan attacks us with discouragement, remember that we have the Spirit of the Living God inside us.  Therefore, we have hope, and a future!  We know that our eternal future is guaranteed through the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

    One of the most powerful billy clubs we have at our disposal is Jesus’ example when He was tempted by Satan in the desert.  After fasting forty days and nights, Satan seized the opportunity to attack Jesus through hunger. But just take a look at how Jesus wielded the Word of God to knock him out. He answered: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.  Well now, the one thing we know about Satan is that He’s persistent. He kept coming at Jesus, and each time Jesus answered with, “It is written…” until finally he knocked the devil out with “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.”  Two thousand years later, we can use that same billy club - God’s Word. We can simply tell Satan: “It is written…” and wham, he’s out, at least for the time being.

    Prayer is an essential billy club in warding off Satan’s attacks, especially when he comes at us with worry, one of our fiercest enemies.  Prayer puts us in direct contact with our Father.  We don’t have to go through an operator, a switchboard, or anything or anybody to reach the throne of God when we are tempted to fret. We can draw on what we know: Philippians 4 reminds us to “Be anxious for nothing, but in all things with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God, and the peace of God which passes all understanding shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”  We can whack Satan on the head with prayer each time he comes at us.  We can fall on our knees, go into our secret closet and talk with the Lord about those things that worry or concern us, and leave it to God to fix.  Satan can’t stick around when we are having that heart to heart with the Father.
 
    The final spiritual billy club is praise!  Praise God in spite of what is going on in our life.  When Satan comes with one of his many tactics to diminish what God is doing in our life, we can hit him over the head with praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God!  Trying singing a favorite hymn, or clapping your hands…rejoice in the midst of the turmoil.  As Paul writes in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!”  Psalm 34:1 reminds us to bless the Lord at all times, and to keep His praise continually in our mouths!  That means during the good times and the difficult days, but most especially during those times when Satan is on the attack.

The organization is seeking volunteers and donors. Efforts include everything from knitting scarves to letter-writing campaigns to asking dentists to “buy back” Halloween candy from patients to send to service members. Sounds like fun and a worthy cause.

Operation Gratitude sends packages to members of all military branches deployed anywhere in the world. To date, packages have been sent to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Korea, Africa, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Guantanamo Bay and onto ships in international waters, according to the Web site.

With the holidays approaching, there might be some great projects to consider for churches, clubs or school. For more information, visit http://www.opgratitude.com.

It’s a creative way to do good.

During his speech at the Republican National Convention Juliani said, “You have a resume from a gifted man with an Ivy League education. He worked as a — community organizer.”

He paused, shrugged his shoulders and with a sarcastic smile asked rhetorically, “What?”

Perhaps if Juliani understood the role of a community organizer he could have fostered a better relationship between the NYPD and the minorities that lived in New York City.  That is expecting from someone who continues to profit from the tragedy of 9/11. 

As for Palin, rather than belittling the work of those who sever a higher calling she should consult a linguist and learn how to pronounce names of countries that will be in the American lexicon for at least the next 25 years, if not more.  Iraq is not pronounced “eyeraq,” and Iran is not pronounced “eyeran” or “I ran.” The last time I heard it pronounced like that was more than 25 years ago, which for her is fitting because her ideas of what is American and what makes an American are at least 25 years behind modernity. 

Yes, community organizers do exist and they do real work The following interview  is with a real life community organizer from Chicago

But underneath the low blow is an even greater insult.  Were not all prophets and messengers from God in fact the original community organizers? 

To whom did they preach?

What did they ask from that those in charge?

Who were their followers? 

And yet both profess to be people of faith. 

Upon hearing the story my first thought was surely other religions would also be afforded the same privilege. Why cannot we Muslims have a license plate with a passage from the Quran? Will Jews, Hindus and Buddhists get their own plates, too? Expecting such a pluralistic approach is, of course, naive.

Why do people of faith feel the necessity to employ such empty and shallow avenues for expressing their faith?

When I see a fellow Muslim return from a weekend spiritual retreat thinking that they have a mandate from God I tell them, “There is no correlation between the length of your beard and the piety in your
heart.“ The symptom to this problem is that while they think they are grounded in their faith and nothing can shake their belief, the reality is the converse.

The greatest way to express one’s faith should be the way one behaves and acts towards others.

“Shortly after taking office as governor in 2006, Sarah Palin sent an e-mail message to Paul E. Riley, her former pastor in the Assembly of God Church, which her family began attending when she was a youth. She needed spiritual advice in how to do her new job, said Mr. Riley, who is 78 and retired from the church. “She asked for a biblical example of people who were great leaders and what was the secret of their leadership,‘ Mr. Riley said.

He wrote back that she should read again from the Old Testament the story of Esther, a beauty queen who became a real one, gaining the king’s ear to avert the slaughter of the Jews and vanquish their enemies. When Esther is called to serve, God grants her a strength she never knew she had.“

The book of Esther plays a strong role in Judaism, with an entire holiday (celebrated in the Spring, around a month before Passover) surrounding it.  We are on the other side of the calendar from Purim now, but the inspiration of the story can still be meaningful to us now.

This time of the year, we study Pirkei Avos, the ethical teachings of the Talmud, with the sixth chapter having been read today.  In the sixth chapter it says it’s very important to give credit where credit is due.  It says that when you tell something over in the name of the one who said it, one brings redemption to the world.  This is taught based on Esther 2:22 “and Esther told the King in the name of Mordecai”, when Mordecai overheard a plot against the King and reported it duely to Esther, who then told the King.  This eventually brought about the entire salvation of the Jewish people at the end of the story.  We see that giving credit where credit is due can bring redemption.  If this is so of giving due credit to people, it is all the more so when we give credit to God, Who is the source of all. 

Ramadan is the month in which Muslims perform extra prayers during the day and night, give extra charity and fast.  By not eating and drinking we remove the physical needs of this world and try and concentrate on the spiritual needs.  A person has physical , spiritual and mental needs.  For 11 months out of the year we are caught in sustaining our physical desires and needs.  Ramadan serves as the training ground for removing the focus from the physical to the spiritual, the hope being that one can sustain that level of spiritual awakening for the rest of the year.

Does it make the situation of teenage pregnancy palatable by saying, “They are going to get married in a year”.  What kind of rationale is that?  This does not disqualify Gov. Palin from being a V.P., or a great mother.  I believe it does send the wrong message to have the two teenage lovers, who have put the cart before the horse, put up for the media to view. 

I am not condemning them, but to use this as spin or to soften the reality of the issues of teenage pregnancy is irresponsible.  While Gov. Palin becomes as champion for special needs families, I hope she will put the same effort in talking about teen pregnancy.

She, along with the senior pastor, the Rev. Travis Collins, and four church members took what they called “the plunge” Aug. 24 and 25 as they befriended homeless people in the city of Richmond. Carter explained that the purpose for taking the plunge was to learn about issues that contribute to homelessness _ such as poverty. The plunge also gave insight about individual factors that surround this growing social concern.

“This project aims to educate followers of Jesus about the systemic issues related to poverty with the hope that some of the mission action efforts in congregations will be designed to address root causes of poverty,” she said.

She described the average person as “passive” about poor and homeless folks. She wants to change that. “I feel it’s part of my job to educate people.”

Carter coordinated with CARITAS (Congregations Around Richmond Involved To Assure Shelter), an organization which responds to unmet needs for emergency shelter for homeless people.

On Aug. 24, the group of six from Bon Air Baptist boarded a GRTC bus near the church on Buford Road and headed to Monroe Park in downtown Richmond, where homeless people are known to gather. There, the church group paired with guys she called CARITAS mentors, or displaced persons who took the Bon Air group under their wings and shared the struggle to acquire basic necessities of life.

“We tried to make it experiential. We went out there to learn about the problems and complexities of poverty.” From the park, the group traveled by bus to one of the CARITAS sites and spent the night at a church shelter which provided food and a place to sleep for homeless people.
“I think it put a face on poverty and people left more sensitive to the plight of those in need,” Carter said.

The experience was a good thing, she said. “We will have better opportunities of establishing brief relationships with homeless individuals and to hear their stories.”

To be like Jesus is to walk among the marginalized citizens of society and fellowship around tables in community, she said.

This is a lesson well worth learning outside the walls of worship. It’s one thing to write a check and pray. It’s quite another to walk in a homeless individual’s path and see what he or she faces each day. In other words, sometimes we, too, have to take the plunge.

When tropical storms and hurricanes present a threat, you can count on American Red Cross chapters from the Richmond region to offer disaster-relief services. Last week, in anticpation of Hurricane Gustav’s hit in the Gulf Coast region, representatives from local chapters were on their way to help.

Volunteers from the Greater Richmond, Rappahannock County and Southside chapters of the American Red Cross deployed emergency-response teams to Montgomery, Ala., to prepare for Gustav’s arrival in the Gulf Coast region. A mobile feeding unit that delivers as many as 1,500 meals a day was sent, as well as tractor-trailers full of supplies, officials said.

We’ve seen similar teams deployed elsewhere when storms take their toll on people who were displaced and localities that were in dire need.

In times such as these, the outpouring of people and agencies responding to others facing crisis has become the norm rather than isolated incidents. I’m thankful these folks were willing and able to go, offering their time and skills to provide comfort and care.

Gustav struck areas all along the Gulf Coast and inland, but individuals and families can rest easier knowing that compassionate Virginians have joined in to assist. It’s the ultimate act of kindness when we help others cope with the effects of a natural disaster.

It’s plain and simple. It’s just doing good.

In this month Muslims abstain from food and drink (yes that also includes water) from dawn until dusk, which is from about 5:30 a.m. until 7:40 p.m.  That is the physical restrictions of Ramadan and frankly other than a few hunger pains that part of it is easy.  The difficulty is restricting one’s tongue from backbiting and lying and perhaps most difficult thing is controlling one’s anger and mood.  So if you run across a Muslim at Ukrop’s, at work or in your neighborhood and he or she seems a little moody you will know the reason.

Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.  It was prescribed to Muslims in various verses of the Quran one of which is from the second chapter and 183 verse, “Oh you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you many learn piety and righteousness.“ 

As a child it was hard for me to understand the spiritual nature of the month and for what Muslims were striving.  The extra prayers, the extra generosity and the reading of the Quran from cover to cover seemed insignificant to me as all I understood was that it was May and I could not eat until close to 9 p.m.

It was not until years later ( I should say close to 15 years later) that I began to fully appreciate and understand, and that the abstention from food and drink was an insignificant drop in deep ocean of Ramadan.

But what about those people who do good deeds and never get noticed? To the folks they help, these average guys are heroes, too. Let me dub them “Just Joes.”

You’ve heard or read about them. You may have been the recipient of one of those lifesaving deeds by a Just Joe.

Just Jody lives next door or down the street. You know her. She grabs your rambunctious toddler’s hand the one time you look away, preventing the child from wandering to the edge of a dangerous sidewalk. That’s a female Just Joe.

Just Joe doesn’t give his name when he comes to the aid of a stranded motorist on the interstate. The person has no cell phone to call AAA and is unable to walk 2 miles to the next exit to report a disabled car. Just Joe makes sure the driver safely pulls off when the tire is fixed, then waves good-bye. You can see him in the rear-view mirror. Joe’s a hero.

Just Jody sees a man choking in a restaurant and rushes over to apply the Heimlech Maneuver. The piece of food pops out and the man stands to shake her hand once he is settled again. Jody’s a lifesaver.

Just Joe has a chain saw that comes in handy after a dangerously hanging tree limb almost shatters a neighbor’s roof during a thunderstorm. The neighboring house is at risk of major damage. The guy next door is 88 years old. Joe’s just who the old-timer needs. He offers to cut the tree limb to help maintain safety. Joe’s a hero.

A puppy writhes in pain after being struck by a car. Just Jody collects the animal and drives him to a vet’s office. The pup’s owner, a next-door neighbor, is at work. The vet says the patient arrived just in time to save his life and set a broken bone. Jody waits at the animal hospital, offering comfort to the pooch until the owner arrives. The dog and the owner are thankful that someone cared enough to take action.

So when the average guy or girl helps in a crisis or a stranger saves the day, they may not receive any recognition. But lots of us are grateful to know them and benefit from their kind acts. Do you know some Just Joes? Post your comments and share your hero with the world.

I’m sure Rep. Tubbs Jones never had a clue that when she left her home that day, she’d never return to see family and friends. To chuckle at a good joke. To squeeze a constituent’s hand. To plant a kiss on a child’s cheek. Or to encourage someone struggling with family or personal problems.

Life’s that way, you know. That’s why it’s important to do some good if you can, while you can. You may have thought many times about taking some fresh-cut flowers from your yard to the elderly woman next door who has no kin. Or you might be procrastinating about that lunch date you promised Uncle Ed and Aunt Emma. They’ve been your greatest cheerleaders in life and now you have a chance to say thanks, enjoy a meal together and engage in good conversation.

Since Rep. Tubbs Jones’ death, I’m reminded of opportunities I might have to make someone’s day when they’re feeling a little crappy. And there’s a kid I know that needs a motivational nudge before school starts. I could be the one to say “You go boy! Let’s see all passing grades this year. You can do it.” A woman I know has been unemployed for a while. Her morale has reached an all-time low as job prospects and resulting circumstances continually take a dive. A few encouraging words might cheer her up a little.

And gosh, I’ve got a mate who still needs to hear that I love him. I don’t do it often enough. I don’t need to wait for a special occasion.

So don’t put off things you intend to do that might help lift yourself or others. We never know when something will occur in life that will prevent us from following through. Time’s on your side. Use it for the best of life, yours or someone else’s. Do it now.

“Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood.  He threw the wood into the water, and the water became sweet.” Exodus 15:25

  A piece of wood in Moses’ hand sweetened the bitter water at Marah, so the grumbling Israelites could quench their thirst. (Ex15:22-27).  Jesus took two fish and five loaves of bread that the disciples had in their hands, and miraculously multiplied them to feed 5,000 plus people.  They even had leftovers! (Luke 9:13-17).  Acting out of obedience to Jesus’ request to fish during the day, a net in Peter’s hands caught so many fish that he had to call other fishermen to help him.(Luke 5:1-11)  Reeds in the hands of Moses’ mother became a floatation device that saved the babe who would become the leader of a nation. (Ex 2:2-3)  A handful of flour and a little oil in the hands of a poor widow was blessed by God, and provided her enough to sell and to live on.  (I Kings 16:12-16)  Trumpets in the hands of seven obedient priests collapsed the walls around Jericho (Joshua 13:23).  These Biblical stories point to our human dependency on our Lord, for in each instance a loving God meets these characters at the point of extreme need.

  They also confirm that whatever God places in our hands, He has already given us power to accomplish through faith.  All too often what we see, with our limited vision, seems so insignificant and scant that we cannot fathom how it could possibly make a difference.  The good news is that when we reach our human limits; when we are down to our “last something or another” God always steps in to make something transformational happen.  I call them “Only God” moments. 

  So, from now on, let’s “view” what we have in our hands through spiritual eyes, pray about it, and then trust God to do what is best.  And remember…our limit is God’s opportunity.

The Rev. Nathan M. Quick will tell you prayer is a good thing. He knows first-hand how the good words (including prayer), good wishes and good deeds of others can help a person push through when times are not so good.

Some folks may recall that Quick was shot during an attempted robbery Jan. 10 at his neighborhood store in Petersburg, Quick’s Stop and Go Mini Mart on South Street. Quick, a Chester resident, also is pastor of Living Word Ministries in Colonial Heights.

He humbly told of the hundreds of people that circled around him after news broke about the robbery. They prayed at their homes, the waiting room at the hospital where he was admitted and in the community where he is a well-known leader. Quick said a bullet grazed his heart during that horrible, near-fatal incident at the store, resulting in open-heart surgery to repair the damage and stop the bleeding.

If he was ever in need of divine intervention and good wishes, it was during the operation and a week in the intensive-care unit at Southside Regional Medical Center. “Hundreds of people were praying for me,” he recalled. “Prayer was instrumental in my recovery. I even think the doctors were praying for me.” He spent another week in a regular room while he recovered from his wounds. 

Prayer was good. The answer was greater. Quick said he returned to his pulpit at Living Word in late March.

But I asked him to discuss other acts of kindness during his ordeal that stuck in his mind. He didn’t hesitate in responding.

Vitriol seems to be off the charts about political candidates, soaring gas prices, protecting the environment and international affairs. Sometimes, I’ve just gotta take a ride or sit quietly to get that stuff out of my head. But you know what? I can find peace when I concentrate on good people and the caring things they do. Some folks just seem to have a heart for helping others. Many are driven by the Golden Rule. You know _ do unto others….

Do-gooders sometimes get a bad name. They are seen as squishy, weak, and too yielding. That’s far from the truth. It takes a lot of courage to say “I’m sorry” or “I was wrong.” It takes sacrifice to give up your time to visit a nursing home and smile with a stranger, or serve hungry people at the soup kitchen in your community. It takes strength to build a relationship when it seems there’s nothing there.

Just think. The 10-year-old boy who picked up the cans could’ve spent that hour playing Wii instead. The woman in the blue Mercury could have blasted her horn and yelled curses as I tried to weave into traffic. And the guy who volunteered for the soup kitchen could’ve chosen to watch the Andy Griffith show or the Twilight Zone on TV Land.

Acts of kindness are occurring more frequently than we’d like to admit. The busyness of life often prevents us from noticing or acknowledging when people do good. We’d rather rant about wrongs.

I’ll bet you know about some good stuff. Comment on this blog and share a do-good story. You’re welcome here.

    While reading and meditating on Psalm 139 today, I was reminded of one of my favorite childhood games; hide and seek.  My siblings and I would hide behind clothes in the closet, under beds, in the hollow of the giant oak tree in the yard, in the wheat fields, and anywhere else we thought it would be difficult to find us. I recall with delight my own squeals of surprise each time my sister or brothers found me.

    The psalmist poses a series of situations that reflect the absurdity of even trying to hide from an omnipresent, omniscient God, for He is everywhere.  As my cousin says, “There is no spot where God is not!” Isn’t that reassuring?

    Just as I knew my siblings would eventually find me, I have the same assurance today that no matter where I am, what I’m doing, or what I am going through, God is ever present.  Now, isn’t that reassuring? In the words of the gospel song, “There’s No Hiding Place Down Here.”

his website, btw, is www.koshertorah.com

The effort from June 16-27 produced nearly 700 canned and nonperishable food items, 59 personal-care items and more than $300 in cash. The food items were donated to the Central Virginia Food Bank, and the other items and money were distributed to a charity of the employees’ choice. The campaign was part of the University of Phoenix’s national “Hunger is Happening” food drive.

Such an undertaking this time of year is impressive. Many folks wait until Thanksgiving and Christmas to get into the giving mood. And if you think about it, a collection drive in June could have gotten lost in the mix of summer activities and personal stuff. But these employees saw a need and answered the call.

Good things can happen anytime. We don’t have to wait until the winter holidays to get in the spirit of doing good and helping those in need. Some individuals and families, through the Central Virginia Food Bank, have benefited from the generosity of employees at the University of Phoenix-Richmond, 6600 W. Broad St.

Other groups have the opportunity to help hungry people, too. What about your club, organization, church or school?

I want to encourage all parents to spend some time with your kids this summer.  You don’t have to take them to Cincinnati, but take them to a pool or to the park.  Take them fishing or to a museum.  What are the ladies going to be doing while we away.  Well that is for another blog.  But get away with your kids this summer.  We are going to see Red for the next few days.

This young man, who looked to be in his late 20s or early 30s, arrived at his table with a woman, a young girl and his elderly mother for a late-evening meal. It was apparent that he was on his way to or from work. He was in uniform, his shirt with a patch on the sleeve emblazoned with the word “Security.”

He seated his mom next to him at the table for four, making sure she was comfortable. From the start, this guy showed a tender side that made me melt. After his mom was settled, he gingerly tucked a paper napkin at the neck of her blouse to help her avoid food and beverage spills. The old woman had limited mobility and did more nodding than speaking. But through her occasional smiles and twinkling eyes, I sensed that she was happy about the time and attention her son offered.

Each time he left the table for another round at the buffet bar, he returned with a plate for his mother, too. He carefully cut her food into bite-sized chunks. He held her glass to her lips so she could drink slowly. Her son was right there to dab her lips with a napkin and watch her enjoy her meal. She seemed to have a great appetite!

Though she only mumbled softly sometimes, she grinned often as she heard the conversation at the table. And the smile in her eyes were as bright as the one on her lips.

This man’s love and devotion stood out like a badge of honor. Sure, some would say that’s the way it should be. But how many stories have we heard about elderly people who are ignored and neglected by their families?

That this guy would spend his Saturday evening taking his frail mom on an outing and helping her enjoy a meal deserves an honorable mention. I didn’t ask his name. But I did stop to tell this stranger how much I appreciated and admired what he was doing. He thanked me. The old woman smiled.

I told her, “Lady, you’ve got a good son.” As I walked away, her eyes said thanks.

I believe that as voters we should apply our faith during this process.  Sometimes I feel that we have to take the lesser of two evils.  Every politician will not be everything to everybody (although they may try).  I want to know where they stand.  I don’t care if someone goes to church or not, or if they speak in a church or not.  I want to know are they going to help people who can not help themselves.  Are they going to truly be for all the people.  Will they support those of us who wish to serve God and then country.

Pro Lifer’s, don’t think that because a republican is in office that Roe v Wade is going to be overturned.  The rhetoric that comes from that side is simply a salve that will never correct the injustice of abortion in this country.  No candidate in my opinion is will to put an end to abortion because they would never be able to hold office.  It is time for Christians to stand and develop an agenda that will impact the lives of all Americans and not just professing Christians.

This season, look at what the candidates stand for in front of and behind the scenes.  Does their policies align with your faith tradition. Vote your conscience and your spirit this November.

The second annual National Thank You Day is coming up in September and nominations are under way. The contest began July 1 and ends Aug. 15.

The National Thank You Day Contest will search for those special blessings that deserve more than a quick mention. The event is sponsored by merci® Finest Assortment of European Chocolates in collaboration with the Emily Post Institute. The contest encourages people to remember and recognize ordinary acts of kindness by asking people to nominate someone whose good deed has helped or inspired them. One grand prize winner will be awarded a thank-you prize selected by his or her nominator. To enter someone in the contest, nominators should submit an essay up to 150 words about who they would like to nominate and why, and to suggest a thank-you gift valued up to $20,000.

Last year, nearly 12,000 nominations were entered. National Thank You Day is observed annually on the last Monday of September. Details and entry forms are available at http://www.nationalthankyouday.com.

I bet there’s someone that comes to mind. Surf the Web site, write and submit that essay, then let me know if your nominee wins.

  Sixty-eight years before Johns led her classmates to the courthouse in Prince Edward County to demand justice, Maggie L. Mitchell was one of ten courageous black students at the (Richmond) Colored Normal School who challenged the school board’s policy of segregated graduation venues for black and white students. Graduation exercises for white students were held at the tax-funded Richmond Theater while black students were forced to hold their graduation exercises at a local church, usually First Baptist because of its seating capacity. “Our class had a meeting and we were determined not to go to any church…The Richmond Theater or no where,” wrote class spokesman, Wendell Dabney. Standing on the fact that their parents paid taxes just as the white parents, the Class of 1883 pressed their case for equality. After several attempts to negotiate with the school board and the administration of the theater, Maggie Walker’s class decided not to use the theater or the church. The Class of 1883 went down in history as the first organizers of a school strike of blacks in America!

    Because both groups were tenacious in their pursuit of justice, they succeeded in toppling unjust laws and policies.

Those at Richmond Metro Workcamp Inc. are a good example. The nonprofit organization is a ministry that provides high school students with a weeklong mission and retreat
experience. Richmond Metro Workcamp dispersed student crews and adult supervisors July 6-12 to repair homes in Central Virginia. Equipped with tools and a spirit of good will, the teens were dispatched to fix up and enhance houses of elderly folks, people with handicaps and families in need.

In the evenings, the students and adults worshipped at Shady Grove United Methodist Church in
Mechanicsville.

Yes, Richmond, youths are taking time during their summer break to help others. This is more than just building wheelchair ramps, patching squeaky flooring and replacing leaky windows. Young people are learning lifelong lessons about giving and loving. And some kids even call it summer fun! Want to see the kinds of projects the kids at Richmond Metro Workcamp tackled? Visit http://www.richmondmetroworkcamp.com. It will do you good.

Ice Cream Anyone?

Another week, and another adventure story to share. I’ve asked the Lord to send the stories, but I wasn’t expecting them to be quite this dramatic. Seriously though, this week’s story also speaks of the faithfulness and favor of God. Last Thursday, (Juneteenth) as I was traveling from Atlanta, Georgia to Tampa, Florida, I sat beside a man who turned out to be one of many angels the Lord sent that afternoon. He was going to visit his mom for her birthday, and I was accompanying my surrogate daughter to the Black Writers Reunion and Conference. About a half hour into the flight, I experienced sudden, excruciating pain in my right foot. At first I thought it was a cramp, but the pain continued to intensify. This complete stranger, my flight angel, took my foot in his hands and massaged it until the flight attendant brought an ice pack. Then he helped me off the plane, for by this time I couldn’t put any pressure on the foot.

When I arrived at the hotel, God has positioned another set of angels to assist me; among them a van driver who had just graduated from medical school! That strong young man picked me up like I was a rag doll, sat me in a wheel chair, and rolled me to the entrance of Tampa General Hospital so that I would not have to walk a step!

I encountered more angels in the ER who tried to expedite my care, because by then I couldn’t move my toes. These angels could sense that the pain was unbearable. Tests to rule out a blood clot and fracture were performed.  Both were negative. It was determined that I was bitten by a spider. Do I believe in angels? You bet. Within one week (you remember the deer story that happened on Father’s Day) God dispatched His angels to protect and comfort me. They were complete strangers with hearts of gold!

“I missed my brother so much that I had to so something,” Mike said in an e-mail. “My brother was called Mr. Mom by many and when he died, he left three young boys. I decided that I had to do something to help me deal with his loss.” The answer is a fundraiser to collect money for St. Jude Children’s Hospital.”

Mike’s method is a bit unusual. He’s losing weight to raise money. “People are sponsoring me so much a pound that I lose, and that money goes to St. Jude (Children’s Research Hospital).

Visit Mike’s Web site, http://www.donateforfred.com, where pledges can be made and which has a link to St. Jude where people can make donations. Mike started his weight-loss mission June 1 and has lost about 12 pounds, he said. Running, exercising and eating right is keeping him on track. The pounds he sheds will be for a worthy cause, and a great tribute to his brother, Mike said.

“ It all revolves around me getting up every morning and getting my butt out there and exercise. The more I work out, the more I make for St. Jude. My goal is to lose 80 pounds.”

This good deed can offer health benefits for Mike and for children who need care through St. Jude. Wanna help?

In one of the express checkout lines, overflowing with about 15 shoppers, each waited their turn to pay for 20 or fewer items. An elderly guy ahead of me shifted from foot to foot, switching hands often as he carried a small case of beer. Standing in line behind him, I offered relief by asking him to unload his beer in my basket while he waited for the four customers ahead of him to advance to the cash register. He thanked me profusely, glad to unburden himself of the 12-bottle carton.

After a few minutes, he noticed that the woman ahead of him carried a pile of items in her arms, with no shopping basket to hold her heavy load. She was wincing as her arm muscles burned.

The old guy, obviously empathizing with her and remembering his own discomfort just two or three minutes earlier, stepped out of line and walked to the front of the store. He retrieved an empty basket this woman could use to hold her items. He returned to his place and told her, “This is for you. Put your stuff in here.”

I was reminded of the cliché, “What goes around, comes around.” One good deed had led to another. Doing good can be so simple. There are lots of ways to pass it on.

I didn’t get that old guy’s name. He looked kind of ordinary, with short-sleeved shirt and khaky pants. I’d guess he’s a regular do-gooder who is savoring his cold ones knowing he had done an extraordinary thing.

    I didn’t post my usual Thursday evening blog, because I was waiting for the Word Smith to send what He wanted me to share. He sent a dramatic two-fold message yesterday around 3:30 p.m: grace and stewardship. I was taking my granddaughter, who had graduated from Huguenot High School on Wednesday, to dinner and then we were going to see the play Choices at Henderson Middle School.  As I was traveling along Ironbridge Road, near the Reservoir, a deer came out of nowhere. I hit and killed it.  Had I been traveling at a faster speed, or had I been a second or two early the deer would have broadsided my car on the driver’s side. With the force with which the deer hit, it would surely have come through my window!  By the Grace of God my granddaughter and I were not hurt! 

    When the police officer asked if my car was damaged, I couldn’t tell her right away. I was not focused on my car at all. When I did get the strength to get out of the car to survey the damage, I found it was extensive.  One of the lessons learned from the accident is that car parts can be easily replaced, animal habitats can’t.

    The accident has shaken me to my very core, for it brought up concerns about the environment that my grandchildren have been discussing with me recently. They are worried about where their drinking water will come from in twenty years.  They are concerned about the destruction of wildlife habitats.  They worry about fuel costs and sources. I’m worried for my grandchildren and all grandchildren everywhere.  Twenty-four hours after the accident I am still weeping…not about the car, but over what poor stewards we are of this beautiful planet.

  As green spaces continue to give way to “progress,” perhaps we should ask: What price are we willing to pay for another mall, another subdivision, another golf course…?  What responsibility do the communities of faith have in stemming the tide?  Our grandchildren deserve answers.

Crossings Church members volunteered to make repairs, plant a flower garden and paint inside Amy’s house. She is not a member of the congregation. But pastor Josh Karrer said members wanted to “bless a mom in our community.”

Several businesses donated supplies and services. Among them, Thermal Home Exteriors Inc. installed new replacement windows. Automatic Climate put in a new heat pump and handler. Sherwin-Williams provided paint.

After the work was finished, Amy was ecstatic, Karrer said. One of the church’s goals is to be a contributing member in the local community, he said.

Crossings Church is one of Glen Allen’s newest congregations, meeting for worship in Henrico County’s Regal Virginia Center 20 movie theater on Sunday mornings at 10.

Helping people like Amy will be a continuing mission of the church, Karrer said. “We’re constantly in the middle of the community serving and showing Christian love in a tangible way.”

Tonight, our family played and it was great to recall all that God has truly given us.  My seven year old, on his third try, said that he was glad the Christ died for our sins.  He got an extra point.  This simple game lifted our spirits as we talked about how much God has done for our family.  What a great way to spend the dinner hour.  Believe it our not, this was a time of praise as we thought about how good God has been to us. 

Go around the table tonight and see just what God has done and just how good your life really is.

Celebrate Life!

Start the week off thanking God for an opportunity to move one step closer to your destiny. Thinking about where you are going is a sure fire way to enliven your spirit.  After this, make a list of the most important tasks of the week.  Put them on flash cards, hang them on the fridge or even put them on your computer.  This will give your week direction.  Next, plan your weekend today.  It is great to have something to look forward to all week. 

Make a deposit into your savings account.  Why not get full week of interest.  Finally, make sure you handle at least one of those task on that to-do list.  You will end your Monday with a sense of accomplishment.

Mondays can be great days.  Make the most of your Monday and turn it into a fun-day.

CELEBRATE LIFE!

Shavuos this year begins tonight (June 8, 2008) at sundown and continues to nightfall on June 10.

Here is an interesting video of the celebrations of the end of the holiday of Shavuos in 2006 in Kiryas Joel, NY with His Holiness, Grand Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe.

Here is an interesting video from the Hasidic community of Kiryas Joel, NY, accompanying His Holiness, Grand Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe, home after the Shavuos holiday in 2006

Here is a link to a recipe for cheese blintzes, a traditional Shavuos food.

The L.C. Bird High School rising tenth-grader equates success with giving. Inspired by the late Richmond postal clerk-turned-philanthropist Thomas Cannon, Devin is one of many students feeling the ripple effects of Cannon’s benevolence. Devin is part of Bird High’s Success Program, designed to address academic and social needs of students. Cannon was a financial contributor to the program before he died in summer 2005.

Devin and his Success Program classmates recently raised about $1,000 and helped a classmate whose father died, giving $600 in gift certificates to the family. The students spent the remaining money to buy items for the Pediatric Unit at VCU Medical Center.

The youngsters have tapped into Cannon’s philosophy of helping. Through the Success Program, “I’ve learned to be grateful for what I get and share with people who are less fortunate,” said 15-year-old Devin. Students caring for their classmate resulted in compassion as well as participation, Devin said. “They understood that he was going through a hard time.”

This all started because the students have learned of Cannon’s good deeds, helping people facing hardships throughout the Richmond area with monetary gifts, usually $1,000. Success students followed through by creating the Thomas Cannon Fund.
Matt Bland, who directs the Success Program at Bird High and Manchester High in Chesterfield County, said the goal of the Cannon Fund is to teach young people about philanthropy, in addition to academic and social skills.

I have a feeling Thomas Cannon would have graded the Success students with an “A.”

Join the several churches that feed people who are homeless out at Monroe Park.  Take new toys (still in boxes) to Children’s Hospital.  Load up the truck with can foods and take it to the food bank.  There are so many little things that you can do to impact somebody’s life this weekend.  Jesus said that when you have done it to the least of these, you have done it unto me.  Friday is your chance to get off work and do some work that will help make this world a better place.  Thank God It’s Friday!

Celebrate Life!

My spare bedroom, turned office, is a wreck.  The bed has become a catchall for multicolored junk mail, letters, ancient greeting cards that I refuse to throw away, photographs that I swear I am going to organize one day, and stacks of old response papers and other assignments from seminary classes. The beautiful blue and white print bedspread is hidden beneath the heaps of outdated, irrelevant “stuff”. When I had to rummage though the piles to find an important document the other day, I knew it was time to do some serious spring cleaning. As I began to make plans to tackle the mess on the bed, I thought, Gee, what a fitting metaphor this is for my spiritual life.  Too often I have been guilty of allowing the junk mail of life to accumulate, and obscure my view of God’s purpose. His handprint was there, but my brain was too cluttered to see it. 

So, just like the plan I made to rid my office of junk mail and old papers, I made a plan to do some internal spiritual spring cleaning.  Here’s how I tackled the job:

1. I threw out “busyness.”  The first thing I did was to allow for some white spaces on the calendar that was ruling my life. For months I had prayed, “Speak Lord, your servant hears.” However, I wasn’t spending enough time in quiet devotion to hear much of anything. 
2. I pitched “self-will” into the trash can. It was beginning to take up permanent residence in my heart. I had to replace it with Mary’s space saver – “I am your servant, let it be unto me as you say.”
3. I shredded “impatience,” as it was another one of those character flaws that had barricaded itself in my spirit. 
4. I tossed “seeing things as I wanted them to be,” in the dumpster.  I had developed a habit of seeing things through proverbial rose colored glasses, rather than the way God was showing me.  Being the incurable optimist, I had a hard time parting with this one.

In short, I had to chuck those things that had become strongholds in my life; those things which blocked the cleansing and renewal that awaited me.  And please don’t think this spiritual spring cleaning has been a one-time event or exercise either.  Just like junk mail, busyness, impatience, self-will, and the rose-colored class syndrome arrive in my spiritual mailbox every day, and I have to go through the same process to toss them out.

What things are cluttering your spiritual life?

He decided to give half his proceeds, $18, to The Red Cross. The son of Kate and Matt Cooper, Ned has honed the act of giving, and of caring for his community _ admirable values for a boy his age.

The Greater Richmond Chapter’s chief executive officer, Reggie Gordon, touted the child’s efforts by saying “We are incredibly grateful for the generosity… and the selflessness of young citizens like Ned.”

We had a staff meeting the other day and we began to talk about sex and the impact that it is having on the church, community and the country. When should a church talk about it?  The staff was amused at my position on not wanting to talk about it.  I am clearly unsure. 

I know that parents need to talk about it with their children.  I know what the bible says about sex, and I know the importance of teaching on it.  But it is so hard to accept that some middle school teens are talking about it and some high “schoolers” are doing it.  What should the church say about it?  Should it be taught in Sunday school?  What about some retreat?  As a dad of two, and a pastor of hundreds, something has to be said and done.  But what? WWSD!  What Would Samantha Do?

A church cannot be blamed for wanting to give away gas to help out people in the community.  Bikes encourage healthy lifestyles.  Kids who did not have bikes before, got new ones for Easter.  Get this! The people who got the gas and the bikes were not even members of the churches that did this. 

So where is the line drawn?  Some churchgoers may take offense; others may say it’s about time.  I applaud Bishops and Pastors that want to help others in the name of God and find creative ways to do it. Isn’t it about time? What do you think?   

My first significant do-good experience was rescuing my pet dog after he was wounded in the spine and paralyzed from the neck down. I was about 8 years old. Over a year’s time with lots of love, patience and home therapy, he healed and walked again. My folks allowed me to tend him before and after school under the crawl space of our house, and treat him with the only medical supplies we had _ hydrogen peroxide, cotton balls, iodine and Vaseline. In the 1950s, we couldn’t afford a veterinarian, nor was one available to us. The dog’s recovery bordered on a miracle for me.

I learned about helping when I didn’t have to do it, and about the rewards of perseverance. Good trumps evil and negativism any day. Sometimes we have to dig deep to find it, understand it. I guess my life has been built around those lessons.

Good deeds don’t have to be as dramatic as the one I described , but they usually require a helping hand and heart.

When’s the last time someone did something kind that you weren’t expecting and it just made your day? You twisted your ankle and a co-worker volunteers to take all your paper work to the copier for that day, allowing your injury to rest. Or someone behind you in the grocery line offers the $2 you need to pay your total because you’ve overspent, then tells you “It’s OK. Return the favor to someone else when you can.”

Such stories abound. I’m sure you’ve got one that’s worth telling. Maybe you’d like to let others know about someone else’s kind act. Many folks go about their business and shun the spotlight. We’re eager to hear about it on DoGood.

The disquieting battles that had been raging in my life were released to my Lord to fight! In those quiet moments of earnest prayer, study, reflection and just standing still in His presence, the Lord God began to lift the burdens of profound grief; illnesses that had plagued me for more than six weeks; doubts about my call to ministry that surfaced regularly because of my physical weakness; and the feeling of being overwhelmed with the intensity of the coursework for seminary. The hours of quiet time that morning brought me to the realization that the battles were not mine to begin with.

Nor were the burdens mine to carry alone. I found comfort in the words Moses spoke to the Israelites. “Fear not. Stand still [quiet] and see the salvation the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will not see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.“ (Exodus 14:13) I found solice in the chorus of Blessed Quietness, and in my newfound quietness I found healing! You can, too. Stand still and allow God to speak peace into your situation; into your battlefield.

Finally, I invite you to share your “blessed quietness” moment or moments, for I firmly believe that there is healing in our stories.

As I watched the final episode of American Idol (I promise you that I didn’t watch the entire season), I could hardly see what the big deal was.  Who could hold a note, who could remember their lines and who was the best singer.  The show is not really about who the best singer is but it is really who can garner the most votes based on popularity.  Could anyone in the bible make it to the finale and let alone win it.  Maybe David.  Nope he was to short and pitchy.  What about Joseph? He may have done well but when they found out that he had a prison record, he had to bow out.  Possibly the Apostle Paul.  He’s a real scrapper. I would put him in the top three.  How would Jesus do?  First, would anyone even watch?  He might boost ratings a bit, but would they tune in each week or simply tune out February.

Secondly, the crowd was with Him one day and gone the next, and then back again.  To win A.I. you need people who are able to commit to casting a vote for you each week.  Finally, could He handle Simon Cowell?  If he could handle Pontius Pilate and Judas, He could probably handle Simon.  Could Jesus win?  To do it, Jesus needs you to tune in regularly and cast a vote.  Put on a “Jesus Rocks” or a “Crunk 4 Christ” t-shirt to show your support.  Then call all of your friends and have them vote for Jesus.  Even if they don’t like His style of music, just tell them to keep calling. At least the call is free! 

God then told Moses that He had a plan for this already, that if someone misses the first Passover, there is a second chance one month later to offer the Paschal lamb again.

Yesterday was this day, and there is a Jewish custom to eat some of the leftover Matzos (unleavened bread) from Passover yesterday and/or last night.  Some also sing traditional Passover hymns at this meal.  The message is clear, there is always a second chance, so don’t give up!