“Jesus told them, ‘A Prophet has little honor in his home town, among his relatives, on the streets where he played as a child.’” Romans 12:4

“Jesus told them, ‘A Prophet has little honor in his home town, among his relatives, on the streets where he played as a child.’”  Romans 12:4

Have you ever experienced that those people closest to you are the ones who take you for granted, disrespect you, believe that your past precludes you from becoming a new person, are the most hurtful to you, and judge you more severely than anyone else? Don’t feel all alone, this is the way that Jesus felt. His fellow Jews were constantly testing Him, treating Him with distain, and trying to maintain blockades to His success. How could the carpenter from Bethlehem actually be the Messiah?

I want you to take a step back and think about some facts, you have a home town, you have relatives, and you have streets that you played on as a child. Where do you stand? Are you the self made judge of those you grew up with, are related to, or played with as a child?

This phenomenon is not exclusive to the spiritual, the religious, and those called to be a prophet, teacher, or preacher. It occurs in all walks of life. The people that we grew up with who have become successful do become the targets of our judgment: how could he possibly be a good Mayor, CEO, Police Officer, manager, or spokesperson?

A native American Elder offers this wisdom: ‘Thoughts are like arrows: once released, they strike their mark. Guard them well or one day you may be your own victim. –Navajo

In Australia they have the boomerang. It is a hunting tool and weapon, according to need. Its design makes it return to the thrower. Thoughts, like boomerangs can come back and make us the victim of our own judgments. We often suffer greater than those we are maligning.

Notice that I have made us the ones who are taking people for granted, are relatives, or those we grew up with. I have done so because we are the only ones who can change. We pray that by our example others will follow our lead. Truth is, we will never affect all of those other people.  There will always be a person or persons who will be relentless in their desire to hurt you, no matter the reason (if there really is a reason at all).

Paul tells us so eloquently in Romans 12: v. 17 “Do not repay evil for evil; v. 20 On the contrary: If your enemy is thirsty, give him something to drink…”; v.21 “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

A wise person once told me that if you pray truly pray for the one who persecutes you, that person cannot become or remain your enemy.  They may never be your friend or they could in fact become your close friend.  That will be up to them.

Therefore brothers and sisters I pray that you will meditate on this, think about where you are in this senseless circle of discontent.  I pray with you and for you that we all become agents of change, first in our life.

A Prayer attributed to St. Francis

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is

hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where

there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where

there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where

there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to

be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is

in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we

are born to eternal life.  Amen.

Finally, Colossians 3: 13 tells us: “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”

Tennessee update

Thank God for more mild weather than wet and cold weather.  The woods directly behind the house are looking good.  The bird feeders are out and we are visited by a wide variety of our feathered friends: Bluebirds, Wrens, Titmice, Jays, Cardinals, Redheaded Woodpecker, Robins, and my friends the Crows. The sound and sight of the Geese flying overhead is a daily blessing. Large flocks of birds have passed through, sometimes filling an acre or more of trees.

We have started the process of starting both flowers and vegetables in small pots, preparing for March planting. The landscaper is slowly but surely putting in plants and irrigation system. We are anxiously waiting the arrival of our twelve fruit trees, four blackberry bushes and two blueberry bushes. It may take a few years before they are all mature enough to produce; eventually we will be self sufficient on basic fruits and vegetable, with plenty left to give away.

Yes we truly love it here.

Glory continues to have problems related to her dementia and declining physical abilities. She fell again.  This time it was on a straight flat surface without rugs or other trip potentials. She tried to change direction quickly and fell hitting her buttocks and forehead on the floor. She is still very resilient… mostly embarrassed and a knot on the forehead. She was observed for 24 hours and showed no new behaviors or signs of a head bleed. Traveling will be out for her and us for a while. Hopefully she will cooperate and follow doctor’s orders to use a walker.  This is as hard as giving up the car.

Jo is a hoot. She went down to Kathy’s Cownty Kitchen to help out our friend Kathy who had a very bad knee and needed to be off of it as much as possible. She is now working, yes working there, two days a week. Jo is a cook, waitress, and grocery runner. Her resume is growing.  The neat thing is that she is truly enjoying it. This is in addition to all the other things she is doing here on the farm.

I am doing great, myself. I take care of Glory while Jo works. The most difficult part of that is Glory’s lack of short term memory and a profound hearing loss (or listening skill). I am told that when I try to speak loud enough for her to hear and understand me, I sound gruff. So I am working on that. Generally she responds better to my coaching than to others. I am sure that she is as frustrated in her current status as I am trying to care for her. I continue in my “Bible Challenge” a read the entire Bible in a year study. I am starting book six in the ‘People of the Earth’ series written by Jean M. Auel. Most of you are familiar with the first in the series ‘Clan of the Cave Bear.’ Of course I read an occasional Action/Thriller on my Kindle. Beyond that household chores, organizing the garage, and cutting up dead fall and trees are my daily activity.

Blessings to all of you! You all remain in our thoughts and prayers!