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A Heavenly Fathers' Day!

6/11/2019

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"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matt. 5:48)

Father's Day. We express our appreciation for our fathers, or father figures in our life. It all began with  Sonora Smart Dodd, and her father, William Jackson Smart,  a single parent, Civil War veteran who reared his six children alone.  Sonora heard a sermon about Anna Jarvis (the inspiration for Mother's Day) and she felt dad's deserved their day too. However it wasn't until 1972 that Father's Day became an official holiday in the U.S.
    As Christians, Jesus  calls us to emulate the traits of our Heavenly Father (his "Abba" -- daddy). "Father" appears over 300 times in the New Testament, and was one of the key ways Jesus described his and our relationship with God. God the Father is merciful, compassionate, attentive to the needs of the least among us. We are to love our neighbor as much as the Father loves the Son: "I give you a new commandment—love one another just as 1 love you" (Jn. 13:34). "As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you" (Jn. 15:9). Through the practice of this love we are called to be perfect: not perfectionistic, but perfect - whole, complete, finished -- fully ourselves, as God means us to be. The more we walk the path of mercy, compassion, and forgiveness -- act with tolerance, patience and love as did the father in the parable of the prodigal son --the wholer we are, the more complete we are, the closer we are to be who we were created to be.
    To accomplish this, we are called to see ourselves, and see our world, (see our earthly dads) , through our Heavenly Father's eyes. The musician Eric Clapton, whose dad was pretty much absent from his life, began to see his father while gazing at his son (before his son's tragic death at the age of 4). It changed his life. It can change ours.
   Let us take the time to gaze into someone's eyes, and see in there our Heavenly Father.  Let us also see in there the invitation to walk the path  of spiritual wholeness, completeness and perfection.
    Happy (Heavenly) Father's Day!

Listen to:   Eric Clapton, "My Father's Eyes" 
                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IigRv6B763k

Same title, different song:

Amy Grant, "My Father's Eyes" 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=D9L1ODcaE-k
PRAY:  "Heavenly Father, help me see the world through your eyes of unconditional love. Help me walk the path of perfection."

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Running the Race

6/5/2019

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Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" Hebrews 12:`1.

Sometimes our lives feel like an endless relay race.  We dash out the door in the morning, scrambling to get kids to school, make it on time to appointments, meet deadlines at work, pay the bills, get groceries, put dinner on the table at a decent hour, find time for a devotional and prayer, and start it all again the next day.  It can seem like an endless merry-go-round.  We go on automatic.  

How do make sure we're running the right race?

Meghan Vogel, a 17 year old, champion long-distance runner, from Ohio, reminds us how. Several years ago, Meghan won the 1,600 meter race at the Division III state meet in Columbus. Right after that, she started the 3,200 meter race and was struggling.  She saw a rival runner ahead of her,  Arden McMath, who was faltering, falling, and fighting just to stay on her feet. Arden was falling when Meghan picked her up and supported Arden the rest of the way, across the finish line, all the while keeping Arden ahead of her.

“I don’t really remember much about it,” Meghan  said. “It was kind of a blur. I just remember picking her up and trying not to injure her as I crossed the line. She deserved to be in front of me.”
While Meghan could have been disqualified for her actions, none of the meet officials said anything as the crowd gave the girls a standing ovation.  Although Meghan finished last, she was first in the hearts of the bystanders.  She witnessed to the goodness within us, placed there by God.  Meghan reminds us what we are called to do.
​    

This is the race we're really in.  Even when we are behind, that we stop to help.  No matter what we are doing, throughout our day, there are opportunities to serve, and think on the welfare of others. 
So run your race!  Even when it feels we're behind, we're always ahead of the game when we help our neighbor in need.




 Listen to: "By Your Side," by Tenth Avenue North 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St5tz4Pxdhs

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    Moirajo is a minister, social worker, wife, mother, writer and animal lover. That's just for starters. Join the story, there's so much we can share together! 

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