Wednesday
Please Do, and Please Don't
Suggestions for encouraging widows.
by Miriam NeffApart from the outreach of the church, there are many ways individuals can encourage widows on their journey. But it's often hard to know what to say, for fear of making things worse. So let me offer some "Please do" as well as some "Please do not" suggestions.
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The Widow's Might
My husband's death forced me to change in ways I never wanted to.
I am part of the fastest growing demographic in the United States. We are targeted by new-home builders and surveyed by designers. We are a lucrative niche for health and beauty products, and financial planners invite us to dinners. It's no wonder the marketers are after us: 800,000 join our ranks every year.
Who are we? We are the invisible among you—the widows.
Absent God
by David Barshinger
"I had faith until I got to Iraq.... I haven't gotten it back since. Once you get there, you wonder how God could allow anyone to go through that."1
Those are the words of an Army specialist after serving two terms in Iraq, a man who weighs honestly his observations of war and faith. How do you reconcile mass bloodshed with a loving God? God seems absent at the very time when His intervention is most needed.
We've all heard this question in one shape or another, and if we're honest with ourselves, most of us have asked the question too. Like the Army specialist, the mass evil we see in our world — such as Hitler's genocidal program, the Darfur crisis, and heartless terrorism aimed at innocent civilians — disturbs us to the core. We cry out, "Where's God? I see no signs of Him anywhere."
If you've asked the question, you're in good company. King David, the man after God's own heart, posed the question too:
Why, O LORD, do you stand afar off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? (Ps 10:1)
Questioning God's presence isn't wrong. It's human.
Happily Ever After
by George Halitzka
Once upon a time there were two kids who learned the hard way how much birds like breadcrumbs. While wandering in the forest, they almost got eaten by a candy-loving witch! But thankfully there was an oven handy, and before the witch could make Hanselburgers, Gretel toasted her golden-brown.
Then there was the princess who fled from her mirror-gazing stepmother — seems the old bat wanted Snowy-Girl's heart on a plate. There were complications involving seven midget miners, and she almost got poisoned by a magic apple, but everything turned out OK thanks to True Love's Kiss.
Once there was a person who answered to your name and looked strangely like you. You weren't asking for much — just a nice Prince or Princess to marry, a small castle in the suburbs, and a steady source of gold coins. Unfortunately, you soon realized that True Love is an elusive commodity, and Happy Endings are hard to find.
Sometimes, life has a way of discouraging belief in fairy tales. Just ask Heather.
Free Will and the Fruit
by Marianne Coyne
Six days before Christmas, a little story I once wrote, about an empty, little Christmas stocking, came to mind. It had a simple message - being empty of our overindulged desires for temporal things, makes room for God to fill us up with Himself. Then I thought about how hard that is for most people. After all, the usual retort to such concepts is about free will - being able to have it and express it. Being bound to the will of another, especially God's, seems to violate the whole concept of free will; at least that seems to be a popular mindset. But what I have come to understand through the years is that that particular mindset really isn't as much about holding on to free will as much as it is about holding on to immediate sense gratification. In time sense gratification will produce fruit which we and/or others will have to harvest and consume. And that brings us to the ultimate issue - the fruit we produce.
Most of us run our lives on sense gratification. Some of it is good, but one only needs to read a newspaper, watch the news, or look into the mirror to see that we have a problem with it. From sexual depravity, mutilation, and murder, to not being able to say "no" to that daily dose of chocolate mousse, we utilize our "free" wills everyday. But the question remains, "What kind of fruit did it produce?". Because, you see, at the end of the day, that's all that really matters.
Learning to look beyond our immediate gratification of flesh desires gives us a chance to see more clearly into the future of fruit production. The flower on the fruit tree is beautiful, but that isn't the end. The fruit is yet to be borne. Personally, I would rather eat and share fruit that is sweet, juicy, and nutritious than, bitter or rotten. I, for one, am grateful that I have a will free enough to choose to allow a higher Will to make It's home and plant It's Seeds in my heart. For I can't think of better fruit to bear than Kindness, Love, Mercy, Joy, Peace, Health, Hope, and all that God has to fill us with.
Everyday the choice is there to make. Little by little we can clear out the seeds of bitter fruit, and make room for the Seeds of Love. After all, we do have a free will.
Friday
More views on "The Golden Compass"
The Golden Compass
Question Whose Authority?
December 6, 2007
Note: This commentary was delivered by PFM President Mark Earley.
After months of controversy, the fantasy film The Golden Compass finally opens this weekend. Some fans of Philip Pullman's books have been tying themselves in knots over this. They have expressed their hope that the film will keep
So now for the $64,000 question: Is the movie openly anti-religious?
Hanna Rosin wrote in the Atlantic Monthly that New Line Cinema has "stripp[ed] out [
In short,
The main villain in the movie is a mysterious organization called the Magisterium—a word that will be familiar to Catholics. The organization's headquarters bears a remarkable similarity to famous religious landmarks, and some of their buildings have pictures of saints on them. Their goal, we are told by various characters, is to "tell people what to do" and to put an end to "free will." The Magisterium tries to force obedience and stifle thought. And it goes to violent lengths to try to prevent children from reaching puberty and having what Nicole Kidman's character euphemistically calls "nasty thoughts and unhappy feelings."
The somewhat simplistic message that emerges is, "Question authority." But as the Ignatius Press blog points out, it comes across more like "Question authority. Just not our authority." That is, we are supposed to accept the film's assertions about what religion is like as, well, the gospel.
But it is just a story, isn't it? Of course, it is. But as Philip Pullman himself once wrote, "'Thou shalt not' might reach the head, but it takes 'Once upon a time' to reach the heart." That is exactly the point made in the new book The Pied Piper of Atheism, which draws the connection between
No matter what the filmmakers meant to do,
In fact, Christian parents are already being bashed by some for not wanting to take their kids to hear this anti-God message. To those parents I say, good for you. Keep questioning the culture's authority.
The Golden Compass; to view or not to view
With the release of The Golden Compass today (12-07-07), many Christians are looking for the truth behind this controversial movie. Adapted from the first book in a trilogy written by Philip Pullman, a self-described atheist, Compass has been accused of being anti-Catholic and pro-atheism. But how concerned should we be about the power of the film?
This week, one of the ChristianityToday Movies critics offers practical advice about how we might respond to The Golden Compass, and answers some of the most common questions about the film in their feature article, "Fear Not the Compass."
Also, be sure to check out the rest of their coverage on the movie for some insightful commentary on Philip Pullman's writing and thoughts from their readers about the impact of the film on children.
Monday
The History of Thanksgiving
Ever wonder what the pilgrims and their Native American guests really ate at the first feast? Travel back to Plymouth and discover some of the humble origins of Thanksgiving traditions we celebrate today and what the original celbration was actually like!
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Thursday
Gracism!
Practical ways to reconcile the racial divisions in our country and in the body of Christ.
"Gracism" is the answer to racism.
To learn more, hit the link below.
MORE! interview with David Anderson
"Gracism" is the answer to racism.
To learn more, hit the link below.
MORE! interview with David Anderson
MOTIVATION FROM JULIA HAVEY
A...always believe in your ability to succeed. This is important to success because if you do not believe that you can and will succeed in reaching your objectives...why would you try? I think that we give up and fail to reach our goals because we predispose ourselves to fail. We think negative thoughts such as "the last diet didn't work, so this one won't either" or we listen to others tease us for "going on yet another diet". Put those thoughts and others like them out of your mind. From today forward, believe in YOU. Believe in your ability to take control over your situation and to improve every aspect of your life.
B...always be prepared. Many people write to me and say that they intend on eating a healthy meal but end up pressed for time and utilize a fast food restaurant for their meal. You know your lifestyle better than anyone. I can not tell you what will work for you in each situation, but you can! If you routinely are pressed for time, prepare for this, anticipate this happening. Being prepared means packing food from home before leaving for the day, filling a cooler with everything you need for a healthful day, do what you can to insure that healthy food will be readily available to you when you are hungry.
C...care for yourself. If you have not taken the time to do the self-discovery survey on my website, do it today. Visit, www.Juliahavey.com to take yours. Or take out a piece of paper and do it non-cyber way! Write down ten adjectives right now that you would use to describe youself, or just think of them in your mind. What words do you select that best describe you? Are they positive words that signal a strong sense of self? Are they words that reflect the being that you are? Are the words that you chose negative and self-depreciating? Do the words focus more on the condition of your body than of your personality and soul?
I want you to think carefully about the words that you selected. No one else can read them, no one else can hear your thoughts, these are your private thoughts about yourself. Read them over. How do they make you feel? If you words are positive in nature, good for you. You will have a much quicker start on this journey. If your words are negative, ask yourself if you would ever use these words to describe a loved one or a best friend. If the answer is no, then you need to stop using them to describe YOU, the most important person in your life.
Now that you have your ABC's down, let's get to the 1-2-3's! To jumpstart your journey on the path of self-improvement through self-motivation all you need to do are three easy steps.
1. Identify the worst thing that you routinely do that is hindering your weight loss or self-improvement. Do you mindlessly eat chips or pretzels late in the day at work? Do you walk by the communal bowl of M&M's and grab a handful a few times a day? Do you drink regular soft drinks? Identify that which you know is the worst habit that you have and go about breaking it. Replace it with something positive. Are you a nibbler by nature? No problem. Nibble, but switch the unhealthy snack that you have previously chosen with something better for you, such as carrots, grapes, raisins, etc...
2. Work your body! Right now you may very well feel like the rusty, squeeky and hard to move about "Tin Man" from the Wizard of Oz. It may have been so long since you actually used your muscles that they now feel like the won't move, but move they will! With a little bit of oil (WATER intake, in our case!!!) and a little bit of movement they will respond and soon they will be as good as new and maybe even better than ever before. One of the best things about being human is that even if you have been overweight your entire life and have NEVER been in shape.....you can change! You can lose weight, you can get your muscles toned and tightened. You can realize the body that you have always dreamed of. All you need to realize is that dreaming and wishing won't produce results. Work your body and it will work for you!
3. Attitude is everything. If you mope around and feel sorry for yourself thinking that life will be a series of denials and deprivation if you adhere to your "diet", then you have already lost the battle. If you embrace change and believe that all the years that you endulged in unhealthy foods, didn't excercise and lived in a body that you didn't like, that THEN you were being denied and deprived of all that life has to offer...then you are on the road to change! Living life in a healthy manner is NOT deprivation, it is abundance. When you can run through the park with your children, fly kites, jump on trampolines, make love with out fear or shame, dance even when people may see you...this is the stuff that life is made of!
Even after losing 130 pounds, I was intimidated to do yoga. I have always wanted to try it, but felt that I would not be limber enough or coordinated enough to do it. Last week while at my gym later than usual, I saw the class assembling for 7PM yoga. I actually left the gym. I went to the car and threw my stuff in it, ready to retreat and go home, even though I had only done 45 minutes of my 60 minutes of cardio! Coward! I realized this and turned around and headed to the yoga class. I took off my socks and shoes and grabbed a mat. I looked around at the other ladies, most were in great shape, a few were not. I endured one hour of awkwardness. I was unfamiliar with the moves but NOT unable to do them. I actually thought that the workout was fairly easy, mostly stretching and holding in that position. The next day, I realized why yoga is so good for you. For one, I actually relaxed during the class (for those who know me, you know I am fairly hyper!). And unexpectedly, my muscles were sore. Yoga is a great from of exercise and toning that I had denied myself of for many years! I allowed preconcieved notions, bias and fear of the unknown keep me from doing something that I now love!
What is holding you back from realizing your dreams and goals? What is there in life that you want to do and have not been allowing yourself to realize? Attitude is everything.
Now, make a list of what you like about yourself, keep reading it each day to remind you. Figure out what you have been being denied and make a plan to realize it! It really is as easy as 1-2-3!
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