Happy Monday, Joyful Thanksgiving!

Photo Credit: www.123RF.com

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."  Thornton Wilder

Last year about this time, I got a text from my brother Rob which said among other things, "Happy National Over-Eater's Week."  I laughed at the truthful irony of his observation.  

This year I am praying that Thanksgiving sees all of us leaving a little room in our lives for grateful awareness of our treasures. 

May God grant that today begins the giving of thanks in your heart, and that this week be filled with the joy of gratitude.

Blessings,
Mark

Photo Credit: www.crosscards.com

His Mercies . . . New Every Morning!

Bishop Arts Street Art
Photo Credit: Mark Grace

Joe is a walking, talking force of nature.  He has three sisters whose most common response to him seems to be "Joe, don't say that!" 

You never quite know what he is up to because he is, as we ministers are sometimes prone to say, "An Israelite in whom there is no guile."  What you see is what you get.  The harder you try to contain him the more he bubbles over.

And Joe is my walking talking reminder that God isn't finished doing miracles.  

Just a few years ago, I tended to flinch when I saw him coming, because when Joe came around it usually meant trouble was close behind.  He was hard headed and living way too fast and reckless for any three human beings.  He was an argument waiting to happen.

Then Jesus changed his life.  And do I mean changed him.  He gave up some really destructive habits and began to come to church.  He got a steady job.  Joe has some skills that are in high demand.  And once Jesus straightened out the personal side of things, the job and regular income followed.

Now the new Joe is decidedly different from the old one, except for the fact that they are still wrapped up in the same personality.  He laid on his horn one day when he was behind me in a funeral caravan.  When we stopped at the cemetery he jumped out and ran up to me and said, "I'm sorry, Pastor! You know that old flesh gets hold of me every now and then. I just forgot where we were."  

Not too long ago we asked him to give a tithing testimony.  "I don't know what you want me to say," he responded, "I'm just gonna tell'em if they don't tithe they are going to hell!"

"Joe," I responded as calmly as I knew how, "I wish you'd find another way to say that."

The next Sunday he took the microphone at the appointed time, looked out over the congregation and said, "God has blessed me a lot.  Everybody in here knows exactly how much God has blessed me.  My life is nothing like it used to be.  But on the tithing thing, here's how I see that. When Jesus comes back, I don't want to have to explain to him how he did everything he did for me and I couldn't even tithe." 

"And that's all I got to say on that."

Photo Credit: www.sharefaith.com

I love Joe, because his life is one of the best sermons I know.  He reminds me every day that God's mercies are new every morning.  Most of all he reminds me that with God's help, we all have the power to say, "My story isn't over yet."

I am praying whatever Monday brings you, that God will give you the power to understand that you are not at the mercy of any given moment or day in your life.  We all have the power to say, "This won't be the end of the story."

Whose life and example remind you of that lesson?  Leave a comment below!

Our Plans, God's Purpose

Photo Credit: Mark Grace

El hombre propone, y Dios dispone. 

(Humans propose and God disposes)

There are so many opportunities to make the best of difficult circumstances, but the most profound moment in any Christian's day comes when we realize that God had something different in mind for us than what we had planned.  

It isn't that our plans were necessarily wrong, just that God is working from a larger palette, painting a bigger picture. 

That realization can turn the most difficult day into a revelation.

Blessings,
Mark

Uncommon Vision

Cindy & Rob

WANNA SEE SOMETHING COOL?

Growing up, I had one of the coolest brothers on the planet. He was always ready to try something that was just a little more over the top than anyone around us.

Like the day when we were exploring the alley in a new neighborhood- one of at least ten neighborhoods that we got a chance to experience before I was out of high school. We ran into some boys while exploring, and before we got three sentences into the conversation, Rob asked one of his classic questions:

"Wanna see something cool?"

Of course they did. What red-blooded American nine-year-old would turn down a chance like that? Only no one had prepared them for what my brother Rob had in store.

He casually put a hand to his face and removed his eye then held out his hand to show our acquaintances. Their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and just like that, my big brother gained two more friends and followers.

No sleight of hand was involved. No tricks of any kind were employed. An injury when he was very young eventually caused him to lose an eye. It was replaced with an artificial one, which Rob was more than happy to let people examine first hand, so to speak.

"Maybe the funniest time" Rob told me when I asked him about it, "was when our cousin Danny talked me into taking it out to show Nanny's (our maternal grandmother) sister. She almost fainted. That suited Nanny fine because I don't think she liked that sister."

Just like Rob.

FRONT ROW SEAT TO A DAILY MIRACLE

I am four years younger than him, so I got to watch a lot of his antics over the years. They all seemed normal to me.

I never questioned how Rob could have become such a fine athlete with only one eye. He did not have access to special therapies, coaches, or instruction. I never really thought about how he learned to compensate for the lack of depth perception that came with only having one eye.

It did not occur to me to wonder how he made up for the complete lack of vision in one whole field of view as I watched him excel in football, basketball and track. It did not occur to me to ask what motivated Rob to take advantage of every chance to participate in any sport- any activity at all- without fear of injuring his good eye. I never questioned his physical toughness or his ability to cope with accidents that brought him close to complete blindness on more than one occasion. 

In college, he had two nick names, not just one. He was alternately known as "Dead Eye," and "No Slack." Those two labels say more about Rob's character than I could write in two hundred pages. He did not ask nor did he give quarter to the circumstances that life dealt him.  

FIND PEACE, CREATE LOVE AND DO MEANINGFUL WORK

As an adult I've had much more time to appreciate the incredible courage and resilience that my big brother has demonstrated. I've seen Rob continue to figure things out without a whole lot of help or cheering from the sidelines. I've watched him battle personal tragedy and work his way through to healing, a mature faith in God and profound capacity to love those around him. 

Rob found love with Cindy, has grown a family and nurtured two remarkable children: Brit, a social worker who just finished an award-winning year serving the needs of the poor with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Chicago; and Clark who at16 years old is a medal winning swimmer with Down Syndrome who almost did not survive the first year of his life.  Through it all Rob has partnered with Cindy in the same unique style he demonstrated when we were growing up. I've also had the privilege to watch him become an accomplished healer as he works with others who are facing their own challenges.

Through it all he has never stopped laughing, or making those around him laugh; and while my big brother is not quite as crazy as he used to be, he is every bit as funny as he ever was.

Blessings,

Mark

Photo Credit: www.crosscards.com