MARY'S PRAYER CONNECTION

First I want to thank all those who have prayed for my brother's recovery. After many weeks of bad news from the doctors treating him, a final surgery was performed five weeks ago.

The purpose of the surgery was to debride the open knee wound. For the previous six weeks a wound vac was used continuously however there was no evidence the wound vac was working.

Wound vacs normally draw infection from an open wound which leads to healing from the inside out. This was not happening in my brothers knee, the infection was taking over and the possibly of an amputation was fast becoming a reality.

However, when the doctor began the debridement procedure he realized the source of the infection was under the kneecap. When he turned the kneecap over he could easily see a large amount of infection below the kneecap. The doctor also found a large amount of infection had attached intself to underside of the kneecap. He was unable to remove all of this harden infection. At last he knew the source of the infection and removed the kneecap. He then washed the wound with six liters of antibiotic solution using a spray and suction procedure often used in certain types of surgical procedures.

Today my brother's wound is completely healed and for the first time since September there is not a gaping hole in the center of his knee. One more week of Vancomycin IV

therapy twice daily. The doctor has promised he would let my brother stand on both legs for the first time in six months.

Only God's intervention led to the decision for a final attempt to surgically intervene, one final time. This would be his fourth surgery and the doctor had said he did not know what else he could do. All he had to do was cut upen the wound from end to end and God led him to the source and cause of my brother's inability to heal.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him for taking control and leading the doctor to the source of the infection. Praise God because my brother will walk again one day soon.  When we ask the Father for anything in the name of His Son, Jesus, the Father will  answer in His way and in His time. All I can say is, God said He would and He did!

It seems as though everyday we hear more about war, terrorism, suicide bombings and an abundance of violent actions by many. Everywhere in the world there appears to be discontent, disagreement and diabolical destruction of human life. I can hear God crying out pleading for a cease to violence and reverence for your life and that of others.

Many believe war is the result of selfish, greedy men and women who only seek more and more of what belongs to others. Yet the real cause of war is the absence of personal spirituality. War is a spiritual thing which can only be resolved when spirituality takes the place of fears, which smoldering in the hearts of far too many people.

The spirituality missing in our world is the lack the peace in the hearts and minds of men, women, teens and children across this earth. Only when people resolve the conflicts smoldering deep in their own souls, can peace overtake war.

The unrest in the hearts of people everywhere is the result of physical, emotional and psychological injuries suffered at the hands of others. These deep seated injuries will remain in the hearts and minds of those refuse to deal with them in a rational manner.

These deep seated injuries cause fear and unresolved fear always becomes anger over time. The very next time someone inflicts pain on you by words, deeds or actions of any kind and results in an emotional rage which fills your heart and mind, ask yourself these simple questions. Find the truth for only the truth can set you free of these emotions.

Of what am I afraid? Afraid it will happen again? Afraid others will find out and talk about you, behind your back? Afraid someone who saw you injured will not defend you but will blame you? There are many reasons for the fear which suddenly fills your heart and mind and even causes you to tremble in anger when another attacks you in some manner. 

Until you discover and name your fear then deal with the fear by overcoming its effects on you, your fear will continue living in your heart and mind and will overtime become anger. Anger only comes from the primary emotion of fear.

Each time there is a reminder of the injury imposed by another if you continue to feel the anger toward this person grow within you, physically, psyschologically and emotionally. If you become angry each time you see the person or even think of the person you have not resolved the fear associated with the injury. Each time this happens the anger causes greater injury and overtime this anger will turn to rage.

It this rage we speak of when using the term, the rages of war.

It matters little whether your anger is from a real or a perceived injury. It matters not whether the anger is justified or unjust. It matters not whether you ever see this person again in your entire life or see him/her everyday.  If you choose to ignore fear you will never know inner peace and true spirituality will be lacking in your life. It is this peace which prevents wars. 

Unresolved fear leads to anger and unresolved anger leads to rage and unresolved rage leads to wars. All of this is due to the absence of peace within the hearts and minds of people everywhere who do not live in the Spirit.  Not living in the Spirit is the absence of sprituality, which leads to war whether they be personal wars or wars which involve armies of men and women. 

Whether our wars are fought on foreign soil or in our own homes, neighborhoods, streets, churches, synogogues, temples, restaurants, workplace, nightclubs, schools, gyms it matters not. It only matters whether we have peace living within our heart and mind. It only matters that we have awareness of the presence of the Spirit of life living within. Only then can we be a channel of peace to others and channel of peace which can resolve the smallest battles and largest wars.

Wars result from a lack of the spirituality revealed in the heart and mind of those who live in the presence of peace. A peacedul heart is the right of every human being. How can you own a peaceful heart and share your interior peace with others? We all can if we are willing be a person who prevents wars rather adding to cause of war.

In the last few days I have heard many different people on radio and television ask the question. Where has civility gone? I too am wondering about the most recent displays of adult behavior which not too long ago would have been considered rude, crude and unattractive by the majority. However, for some reason many people are applauding this behavior as acceptable, justifiable normal adult behavior.

Seeing senior citizens screaming at each other and politicians. Seeing adults of various ages screaming vulgar explicatives at politicians and others. Seeing signs with words, which would have been considered treason even forty years ago. Seeing adults of all ages calling others names which are degrading and often imbecilic. I am in a state of shock over what I have heard and witnessed in recent weeks.

I recall when name calling was a sign of ignorance, a sign the person speaking is too uneducated to speak grammatically in complete sentences. What I conclude from all of this is, the state of affairs in the United States is the worst we have seen since the 1920's when teens decided being rude and intolerant of adults was the intelligent thing to do. Then came the 1960's when doing your own thing and if it feels good do it, mentality  was the in thing. During these years we witnessed the tragadies of the race wars. I for one do not believe this is the direction we are heading as some folks believe.

For several years we were being told that within in a few years there will be more blacks than whites in this country. Now we are hearing mexican immigrants are the fastest growing group in the US. Does this frighten both blacks and whites alike?

It appears the election of President Obama has set off a new phenomena never experienced in this country.  Everyone is afraid ! Fear is a primary emotion which when unresolved generates anger, a secondary emotion. The real source of our problem is not a problem of color it is a problem of unresolved fear causing spontaneous combustions all over the country. Never in the history of the country have we seen such utter lack of self control among senior citizens.

We are lacking the ability to stop and think before speaking out in verbal tirades of illogical and irrational verbage. Adults have lost control of the ability to think clearly, which results in sputtering incoherent sentences. Many have lost their ability to speak a sentence lacking in explicatives, insults and angry words.

This is what fear does to people who have lost faith in themselves and others. It does not matter who our leaders are we are the adults of this nation. We are acting as though we have lost complete control of our senses. I expect to begin hearing about kids calling the "men in the white coats" to come get their parents and grandparents who have lost their minds.

Unresolved fear leads to anger. Unless we are able to deal with fear we cannot prevent anger from overtaking our thoughts and ruling our behavior. Eventually we will explode into angry, verbal and or physical attacks against others. Worst than this are those who turn on themselves and self-destruct.

It is time for each of us to stop, look within and think about what we are doing and saying. It is time to look in the mirror and find the real self. I do not believe the people we are seeing in news reports, on facebook and other social networks are the real US.

The people of the United States are better people than we have been seeing in the past couple of months. It is time for the real Americans to stand up for life, liberty and pursuit of happiness through logical, coherent dialogue. It is time to drop all the uncivil ramblings.

Fear is the real problem. Resolving personal fear is the first and most important answer to the question of where has civility gone. The internal pressure of fear is bringing thousands of citizens to a boiling point and we are seeig the results of unresolved fear.

God grant us the knowledge to name our fears; the wisdom to resolve them before they turn to anger; and the good sense to think before we speak. 

February 26, 2009

Devotional

"For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back."

"In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your Redeemer."

"Though the mountains leave their place and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my convenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you." Isaiah 54:7, 8, 10 NIV

In verses one through six of Isaiah 54, we read of God's relationship with His people of Israel. Suddenly the tone changes in verse 7 and 8 revealing a shocking truth. God does have limited patience! Imagine how the people felt when God admitted to them, "In a surge of anger, I hid My face from you, for a moment." A little scary is it not?

How many times have we heard someone say, God is mad at me because He is not answering  my prayers? We pay little attention to the phrase, God is mad at me, because most people do not believe God gets mad at us, while others maybe have not given this statement much thought. It is a given, God loves us, you and me! Yet, He said to the people of Israel, "In a surge of anger, I hid My face from you for a moment."

Maybe we need to reconsider the trust we have previously placed in a God who calls Himself a compassionate God and whose love is everlasting in verse 10. We may wonder could God, would God ever hide His face again, even for a moment. What do you think?

My answer is yes, maybe, if I do not change my ways and get serious about being a compassionate, caring and loving person of faith, hope and love for others.Maybe the season of Lent is a good time to recall those words, "In surge of anger I hid My face from you for moment" relizing God does have limits.

God's anger overcame God's love for a moment and God immediately forgave His people. What an example of the importance of forgiveness of others which is really a gift to ourself. God forgive the people and said, "Though the mountains leave their place and hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My covenant of peace be removed." "...with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you."

Has your anger ever overcome your love for a moment, an hour, a day, longer? How did you resolve your anger? Is someone in need of your apology, your forgiveness?

God of compassionate love forgive those times we turn our face from You. As your people Israel, we too forget Your love at times and seek You only when our life turns upside down. Keep Your promises before our eyes and as You dwell in the depths of our hearts make your presence known in our world.

Nudge us Father in those moments we are tempted to glance away for those who approach us for help. Withhold Your anger, be patient with us and guide us along the path of righteousness and love. Give us the wisdom to believe You, the courage to trust You and the will to accept the challenges You set before our feet. Bless us in the name of Your Son Jesus and help our nation and world to heal in Your time and in Your way.

Today for many the season of Lent marks a time of prayer and fasting. For forty days Catholics and other Christians spend time focusing on their relationship with God and others. The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday so named because on this day many are marked in the sign of the cross with ashes. The palms left over from Palm Sunday are burned and the remaining ashes are used on Ash Wednesday.

During the day on Ash Wednesday many people are seen out and about with the ashes on their foreheads. The ashes remain throughout the day as a reminder of our sinfulness and a committment to repent for our sins during the season of Lent. Most who celebrate Ash Wednesday abstain from eating meat and those who are able fast from food and drink on this day.

Fasting for Catholics and other Christians means different things. For some it simply means going without food for the day. For others it means eating two small meals and one average meal, which does not exceed the amount of food consumed in the two small meals.

Some who observe the season of Lent abstaining from eating candy or other sweets while others abstain from watching TV and speed the time in prayer and reading of Scripture. They give up some of the things they normally do each day. Others give up  coffee, sugar, soft drinks, alcohol, cigarettes and other things they might do out of habit.

The observance of Lent is a time when we come face to face with the reality of how we are living our lives. Most people spend extra time looking inward and convict themsleves of signs of selfishness, rudeness, intolerance, injustice and other negative behaviors they strive to change during Lent. They work on changing their vices to virtues in order to become a better person. We strive during the season of Lent to replace bad habits with good habits.

Many reach out to others in need sacrificing their personal time, talents and treasure for the good of others. Lent is a good time to examine our lives and commit ourselves to doing things, which can improve the lives of others. Lent is a good time to turn bad habits into good habits.

We presently face a very uncertain future in our country and our world. The economy is forcing many of us to change and become more conscious of our wants and needs. Many are cutting back on how and when they spend money and during this season of Lent many of us can do more.

I hope your lenten season will be a time you have what you need and find room in your hearts to share with those who lack what they need. Lent is good time to discover our wants often exceed our needs and we can make a difference in the lives of others by letting go of our wants, to provide for the needs of others.