What’s your idea?

November 8, 2021

The graphic today points to changes in our lives driven by ideas that we get. Not all ideas that we get are good ones and many should not necessarily be acted upon. Our prisons ae full of people who acted upon bad ideas. There are also many ideas that we might get which we immediately dismiss and being too hard or impractical. Those we should probably revisit with the thought in mind of finding a way to do the “impossible”. It is, after all, thinking like that that led the Wright brothers to stick with their idea of men flying like birds that eventually led to the invention of the airplane.

Life changing ideas don’t always have to be big in nature. Often small changes in the trajectory of your life come from rather modest ideas. There is a current TV show based upon exploring the idea “What if?” The premise I surmise (truth alert – I have never watched the show) is to explore different life trajectories based upon different decisions at key points in one’s life. It’s the old mental game of, “What if I had done this instead of that” played out in episodes.

In real life, we don’t get do-overs; and we can only spend so much time thinking about the alternatives that we are presented with every day. Where can we look for help evaluating the ideas that we get and choosing the right directions for our lives? There is help to be found in the Bible –

Let the Lord direct your steps, for your ability to make decisions, however good it may be, is not always aligned to the Will of God. Let us not lose our strength, trust in the Lord, and He will know how to lead us on the way. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Maybe the best idea that you can have about your life is to trust the Lord and live in harmony with the will of God. But, how will you know what the will of God is? Don’t expect a big booming voice that sounds a lot like James Earl Jones to tell you what to do. Instead, calm yourself and listen intently to that small, soft whisper in the back of your mind that is telling you what is right. At that moment, mentally say the little prayer, “Not my will, but thy will be done” and you might notice a sense of peace settle over you.

Congratulations, taking that small step to act on that idea has changed your life.

Leave a Comment » | faith, Inspiration | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Norm Werner

Do what you can…

November 7, 2021

It is all too easy to fucus on things that you don’t have or to create reasons why you aren’t doing anything with your life. We tend to blame circumstances for our inability to be satisfied or lament that if only we were somewhere else things would be better. Just stop it. Instead heed the advice of Squire Bill Widener – “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

Squire Bill was a prominent community figure in Widener’s Valley, Virginia, who served not only as a miller but also as a millwright, Confederate soldier, teacher, Sunday School Superintendent, Justice of the Peace, and spiritual advisor. It appears that Squire Bill followed his own advice and served the community as provider, teacher and friend. Widener’s quote is often mistakenly attributed to Teddy Roosevelt.

Wrapped up in that little quote are several important thoughts:

Stop wasting time thinking about not being able to solve world hunger or worrying about global warming and feed one needy person in your neighborhood or make one personal change to your lifestyle to lessen your negative impact on the environment. Use what you have and give what you have. Remember the story that Jesus told in Mark 12: 41–44 of the poor widow in the temple who gave her last two copper coins as an offering and how that was more than the lavish gifts of the rich. She did not sit there wishing that she had more, she just did what she could do with what she had. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are

The one thing that you have that is more precious than money is your time. Giving of your time to volunteer at a local community non-profit is often worth more to them than dropping a few bucks in a bucket or writing them a check. There is a lot of behind the scenes work that needs to get done to turn those donations of money into actions that help the disadvantaged in the community. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are

While we see nightly stories of disasters elsewhere or pictures of starving people in foreign lands there are many homeless and hungry people right in our own neighborhoods. You need not travel to find places where you can help; just look around you where you are. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

At the end of your day or the end of your life, don’t sit there lamenting what you coulda, woulda, shoulda done. Instead – Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

Have an impactful and meaningful week ahead. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

Leave a Comment » | faith, Inspiration | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Norm Werner

Peace of mind…

November 4, 2021

Recently Pastor Freed used this quote from the Optimist Creed in his blog, Jack’s Winning Words – “Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.”  (The Optimist Creed)

Jack is an Optimist, both as a person and as a member of that organization and he embodies the Optimist Creed. If you meet him, you quickly know why.

In order to work upon being so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind, one has to first achieve peace of mind. But, how?

Our minds are seldom at rest and quite often not at peace. Why is that? I think it is because we allow ourselves to believe that we can control things going on around us, instead of just focusing upon what we can control – how we react to them. There are some things that we can control, but they are usually things that we can decide to do or not to do. The rest is all our reactions to happenings

 I recently wrote a post here titled “Be at Peace” which gives away the “secret” to peace of mind – accepting God into your life. The stronger your belief, the less able things that happen around you are able to disturb that peace. So perhaps that line from the Optimist Creed should be changed to read – “Promise yourself to be so strong in your belief in God that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.”

I have noticed, especially in times of turmoil all around me, that being able to remain calm and at peace has a very disarming effect on others, especially any who might be actively trying to upset me. It’s not always easy to maintain a calm demeaner, but it is worth the effort. Perhaps this verse from the Bible will help you focus on your peace – “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Being “still” might be equated to being at peace.

As Jesus was preparing his Disciples for their lives without him, he told them many things about their future as believers in him, as recorded in John Chapter 16. At the end of that Chapter, Jesus told them to be at peace –

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33)

So, believe and take heart, so that you too may overcome the world and be so strong in your belief in God that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

Be at peace.

Leave a Comment » | faith, Inspiration | Permalink
Posted by Norm Werner

What will you write on your page?

November 2, 2021

Sometimes it makes sense to put seemingly separate and random quotes together to make a complete thought. Today is one of those times. A quote from Jack Kerouac that I got today in my daily email from Pastor Freed just seems to go with a quote that I saw from an article on Superhero quotes, this one from The Flash.

“I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page, and I could do anything I wanted.” (Jack Kerouac)

“Life doesn’t give us purpose. We give life purpose.” — The Flash – From Superhero Quotes

Many people come to some level of understanding of what Kerouac was trying to say – that what becomes of one’s life is up to them; however, many continue to search, or wait, for meaning or purpose in their life instead of taking the hint from the Flash that we give the purpose to our lives ourselves.

Looking in the Bible for quotes on the purpose of life, one comes across this –

“Now, everything has been heard, so I give my final advice:

Honor God and obey his commands because this is all people must do.

God will judge everything, even what is done in secret, the good and the evil.”

Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 — New Century Version (NCV)

I chose the NCV version because it is one of the only translations that does not use the phrase “Fear God” in the passage. I am much more in tune with honoring God than fearing him. To my way of thinking, the “Fear God” message is the Old Testament view of our relationship with God. A key message that I take from the New Testament is to love (and honor) the God who gave his son to save us, but we should not fear Him.

A second thing that one can take from the New Testament is to focus upon the Great Commandments. Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” – Matthew 22:36-40

One can find a lot of purpose in life by trying every day to fulfill God’s commandment to love your neighbor. Just focusing upon that will cause one to do a lot of good things and to not do a lot of other things that wouldn’t be so good. Doing those two things every day will be giving your life purpose and make great entries to that blank page that is your life.

What will you write on your life’s page today?

1 Comment | faith, Inspiration | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Norm Werner

Next Entries »