Author: larry.maugel

Prayer: Pastor Joe Wright

3/21/99
This prayer was really spoken before the Kansas State legislators.

When Pastor Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas
Senate, everyone was expecting the usual politically correct
generalities.

But, what they heard instead was a stirring prayer, passionately
calling our country to repentance and righteousness. The response was
immediate, and a number of legislators walked out during the prayer. In
six short weeks, the Central Christian Church had logged more than
5,000 phone calls, with only 47 of those calls responding negatively.

Commentator Paul Harvey aired the prayer on the radio and received a
larger response to this program than any other program he has ever
aired. The Central Christian Church is now receiving international
requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa, and Korea.
Pastor Joe’s prayer is reprinted
here as an encouragement and challenge for each of us.

“Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask Your forgiveness and
seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe on
those
who call evil good’, but that’s exactly what we have done. We have
lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.

We confess that:
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it
pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn children and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building
self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it political savvy.
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted our air with profanity and pornography and called it
freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and
called it enlightenment.

Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin
and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been
sent this great state. Grant them the wisdom to rule, and may their
decisions direct us to the center of Your will. I ask it in the name
of Your Son, the Living Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.”

Psalm of Thanksgiving

Psalm of Thanksgiving

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
And to sing praises to Thy name, O Most High
To declare Thy lovingkindness in the morning,
And Thy faithfulness at night.”         Psalm 92: 1-2

 

O Lord, thank you for the solitude of these moments,
For the quietness that soothes my mind from the busyness of the day.
Thank you for these moments of interlude between those of action
That allow me to reflect and remember.

Almighty are You, O Lord,
Yet Your lovingkindness and faithfulness are for all generations.
For in Your goodness you have created a place for us,
A place in creation filled with the beauty of the rose and the freshness of the dew.

Your creation reminds me of the gentleness of Your hand, dear Lord.
The rhythms of the seasons teach me of the forces you have set in motion,
Those motions of change set in a secure movement of divine fashioning.
For in the uncertainty of this world I can trust in the sovereignty of Your will.

O Lord, thank You for Your hand of fashioning.
That way in which You gently form and shape our souls,
For the joys and sorrows in this present time
Which move us from simple creature to eternal being.

Gracious are You, O Lord,
For the way You provide us with companions for this journey,
For the gift of relationships that care and support us,
For the pictures and experiences of love in the here and now
that remind and teach us of Your great eternal love for each of us.

Your grace reminds me of Your wonderful faithfulness, dear Lord.
A Rock before all others, unmovable, that speaks of abiding truth.
For I can place my confidence in You, O Lord,
For Your lovingkindness and faithfulness are for all eternity.

lem: 11/7/2010

Quotes: Churchill

“Americans always do the right thing after they have exhausted all other possibilities.”

“I only believe the statistics I have faked myself.”

“Truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it. Ignorance may deride it. Malice may distort it. But there it is.”

WINSTON CHURCHILL

 

Winston Churchill

“Cornucopia’s Whispers”

A Thanksgiving reflection on the “Horn of Plenty” and those less fortunate.

 

“Cornucopia’s Whispers”

A curious shape with open mouth and twisted tail
Spilling forth the harvest fruits as if to say,
“There is no end to the desire for more.”

Enormous even for a bearded Capra
The horn resounds with peals of plenty
To boast the efforts of the earth.

Unusual even more than name
A mouthful at that to say
Which speaks of abundance and overflowing grain.
Brought forth by Heaven-sent sun and rain.

Now rarely seen but at Autumn’s end,
Except for old images of yesteryear, and then
Today replaced by desires of mine,
No place for gratitude, I’ve not the time.

Could there be empty “horns of plenty?”
There must be, though I’ve not seen one.
Somewhere dark and empty, lonely and forgotten they must be.
Abundance lay far away, too far to see.

The image of the empty somehow calls to me.
With open mouth and dusty tail
Need cries a hungry wail
Of hopeless days for many, I see.

What would it take
To fill the empty horn?
To hear its forlorn peal
And bring a blessing to those torn?

The will to act and to abide
With gentle touch and kindly words
With struggles to understand and stand beside
The loveless and forgotten and ignored.

Yes, one of curious shape and funny name
But still it wisely whispers just the same
Amidst my stillness which I adore,
“Abundance could become… so much more.”

lem (23 Nov 16);  (revised 27 Sept 19)

 

 

Restication

I grew up in the midwest within its 1960’s work ethics. Then, before a child was 5 years old, he or she was taught the value of hard work and doing a job promptly and doing it well. The words of my parents still ring in my ears, “if you’re going to do it, do it right.” And that usually meant do it now. That is undoubtably where I met one of the first ugly words of my life. Uttered by my parents, it would interrupt and break into the sweet flow of my childhood contentment. Even today it is one of my least favorite words. It is the word “procrastination.”

Perhaps that is why I so much enjoy the similar southern phrase “Am a fixin to;” and I have adopted that as my personal mantra. For those of you not ensconced in the south, it means something akin to “considerin to.” It means: the task is there somewhere on your mind, usually way in the back, and you’re thinking about it…a little. It doesn’t mean you’re even going to do it at all, but it at least buys you a few moments of peace from your wife. Some semblance of “a fixin to” is conveyed in another of my favorite phrases, “When a man says he’ll do something, he’ll do it. You don’t need to nag him every 6 months!”

All this leads me to the conclusion that we need to use PC culture to change the harsh reality of this word “procrastination,” which has undoubtedly ruined and given many of us children so much emotional distress. I am sure that “many authorities” can be cited as relating this harsh term to our current societal maladies, such as snowflake sensitivities, overconsumption of sugar-containing beverages, and probably even that global warming I’ve been hearin’ about. After giving this topic its proper consideration, I think we need to soften the real meaning of procrastination to something more politically gentle. Perhaps we could call it “restication.” It’s a long word, so it sounds kind of sophisticated, and I think it would be adopted quickly by them smart folks… It would not mean putting things off because you’re actually too lazy to do them, but instead, a “rest” from this busy, chaotic, stressful life of ours. Yes, “restication” I think will do. The only question is, will my wife go for it? Now what was I “a fixing to” do?

lem 

October Musings

October arrives and brings its unique joys… the fervor of football, homemade chili laced with freshly diced onions, chilly mornings accompanied by the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, crisp bites from a juicy McIntosh, the crunch beneath the feet from freshly fallen leaves, a Silvan palette of bright yellows, crimson reds, and tawny browns. Squirrels busily gather their acorns preparing for the approaching winter; while avian visitors pass through on their way to warmer nesting homes. Yet it remains a restful time, a time of pause, to reflect upon the events of Summer and anticipate and prepare for Winter’s uncertainties.

     It is a reminder to me that some of the best things in life are the most simple ones that really do not cost very much. That is to say the happiest people are those who are satisfied with what they already have.