“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
‘Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!’ cries she
With silent lips. ‘Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’”

I say, Vive la Liberté! St. Paul wrote, “…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” True freedom is found in the Creator of freedom. Our Founders understood this when they wrote, “We find these truths to be self evident…” Our nation was founded with the hope that we would always breathe free knowing that it is our Creator who has built this desire into our very nature. Celebrate freedom, celebrate the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice to preserve it, and make the most of the freedom you have by a contentment which leads to serving others.

Be Well

What Andy said was powerful. Your Creator can work all things together for the good of those who love and seek the author of the Great Commandment. Your Creator can literally carry you through times of heartache, fear, grief, pain, loss, and danger. We hate to lose control of what we see as our “destiny” but when you do turn your fears over, God becomes wisdom and health – mental and physical well-being becomes possible. “This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.” (1 Cor 1:25)

You may not be facing a flesh eating bacteria but you may be facing a fear or danger in your life. Trust in the love of your Creator – which may seem foolish to some but is stronger and greater than any human strength.

Be Well

Families are so scattered these days, rituals are often replaced by work, and stories have disappeared – replaced by artificial entertainment. Recapture the ritual of Memorial Day if you can. The celebration is as old as history in some respects but it dates back to an official holiday in the United States to around 1867 and a dedication in a song, “Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping,” by Nella L. Sweet. It celebrated the work of southern ladies who decorated the graves of the fallen soldiers. Paul wrote to the Church in Corinth and said, “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed —  in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.  Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15)

We remember because there is a present and a future – We are not without hope. There are causes worth living for and sometimes worth dying for. I personally want to honor those who have served to protect liberty in our country and paid the ultimate price. Thank you from all of America. We honor you and we remember.

Be Well

Do not amuse them if you come in contact with them. Do not laugh at their bigoted jokes, do not chuckle at their stories of bullying, do not prolong their self-decption by listening to them or nodding in agreement even when you think they are a buffoon. Jesus had no tolerance for the self-righteous religious bullies when he said, “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You’re like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it’s all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at you and think you’re saints, but beneath the skin you’re total frauds.” Matthew 23:27

Being different is not a reason to bully – being gay is not a reason to bully – being overweight is not a reason to bully – not being among the beautiful or popular is no reason to bully – wait – there is NO reason to bully. It is archaic cave man behavior. Turn and walk away and…

Be Well

Every year a Templeton Prize is presented for outstanding work in religion. This year the prize was presented to the Dalai Lama at a ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on the afternoon of Monday, May 14. A news conference with the 2012 Prize Laureate preceded the event. For decades, Tenzin Gyatso, 76, the 14th Dalai Lama – a lineage believed by followers to be the reincarnation of an ancient Buddhist leader who epitomized compassion – has vigorously focused on the connections between the traditions of science and Buddhism as a way to better understand and advance what both disciplines might offer the world. The question of faith and the focus or science are related in positive ways but this is news that you probably will never hear from the mainstream media. How do you view yourself? How do you view your world? How do you view your faith in relation to people of other religions? “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves…” St Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians. News media tends to exacerbate the ways that we don’t get along, the conflicts between religious groups, the bad news that drives the headlines because they know people will stand and watch a train wreck – they will buy copy of bad news because it grabs their attention by merely shocking them. That will not change but you have control of how you view yourself and what you view.

Yesterday, when I was speaking, I asked people to get up Monday morning, look in the mirror, and say, “we are God’s masterpiece” (Ephesians 2:10). How we view ourselves has a direct bearing on how we will view our world. If God sees us as a masterpiece, who are we to disagree? We can look for things that divide us as human beings or we can search for ways in which we see a future our Creator intends. What will you see in the mirror and in your world – what will you look for? The Good News is something that heals and makes us whole – live it – experience it – share it.

Be Well.