Wednesday, December 30, 2020

2020 - The Year In Review

 You know what kind of year this was!  The year we were all put into time out for our continuing pattern of bad behavior.  It had the potential to be a devastating year in many ways.  Some trauma came to fruition while other categories in my personal life achieved growth and found prosperity during a pandemic.

Ironically there were indications late in 2019 that a China trip I had planned for April of this year would not happen.  Not due to Covid but due to my chosen dates not being filled with anyone traveling except me.  The trip was officially canceled in early January by the tour company I had signed up with saving me thousands of dollars that would be needed elsewhere in the coming months. 

My mother's health continued to decline from Alzheimer's and dementia.  Her home care wasn't up to adequacy resulting in her having to go to a nursing home in late January.  January also began our search for a winter getaway home which we found.  Then came a relaxing trip to New Orleans in February just as Mardi Gras was starting.  We then took a Western Caribbean cruise from New Orleans.  So we were in environments that were to become Covid spreaders due to the closeness of contact during Mardi Gras parades and on cruise ships.

March brought the full blown impact of Covid as it spread throughout the United States.  This put an end to normal routines such as going to restaurants, movies, or spending time with relatives and friends.  Masks became a new required fashion accessory that would save your life. People we knew started getting ill from Covid and some died.

One thing Covid brought to my life was financial discipline. I no longer was spending money on discretionary items.  The Veterans administration finally resolved a claim for benefits that I had filed on my mother's behalf some two years before.  The lump sum payment of retroactive benefits she was owed came right on time as her nursing home stay ended.  This got her out of a dangerous Covid environment and allowed her to return home where she passed away a month later.  The retroactive VA benefits paid for her 24 hour professional homecare her last month of life.  God worked it out that way.

We closed on our winter getaway home in July.  My spouse retired in late December.  Under the grace of God we have both avoided the deadly effects of Covid, so far.  The promise of a vaccine is on the horizon.  We never go without food.  We have more than one place to live.  We can pay our bills on our fixed retirement incomes.  Our health is good.  

I grew spiritually during this year.  I am at the point where my writing skills are now being utilized in the church. My other writing and research projects are going well.  I am doing what I want to do.  Covid helped to keep me away from people and situations that were not good for me personally.  Covid refocused my mind on what I should be focused on.  Covid helped me manage my financial resources better. 

I still have my human faults. But I am a better person than I was on December 30, 2019.  The ways of the world have always failed me.  I no longer seek the glory of this world.

2021. It may get better, it could be worse.  All I can say is so far with one day left, I have survived a world wide pandemic.  In the United States, some 300,000 people did not.



Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Spiritually Managing The World Around You

 

2 Timothy 4: 3-5.   For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching.  They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.  They will reject the truth and chase after myths.  But you should keep a clear mind in every situation.  Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord.  Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.

As you continue your Christian spiritual journey, understand that many of the day-to-day cares of the world will not support your journey.  You will need to interject God into daily human rituals that don’t consider God first.  Think of your average day.  If you are in the habit of turning on the morning news, how many news shows begin with a prayer? If you drive to work, how many of your fellow drivers are showing love and compassion to you in their driving techniques?  In school, do your classmates treat you with love as a fellow child of God?  As you shop for groceries are your fellow shoppers behaving as considerate Christians?

The number of non-Christian images thrust at us every day can be overwhelming.  Whether you are at work, in school, watching or streaming television or movies, on social media, shopping for groceries, etc. you will see one common theme.  The world does not openly acknowledge God in many of our daily common activities.  Our government is not focused on incorporating Godly principles into how we are governed.  As Timothy states, we are focused on following our own human desires.

How do we overcome the power of the World?  It takes maximum effort and you must work at it hourly.  Not just every Sunday via church services. The focus of the World is to tell us from a worldly standpoint what we need and what we should do while we are alive in the world.  We are bombarded with that message every hour of every day.  The focus of the World does not include telling us to prepare for life after death through our spiritual journey.  How do we manage the world around us?  As Timothy says “keep a clear mind in every situation.”

During the last year of my work career, every week I would travel from Indianapolis to my last employer in St. Louis, Missouri.  I would live and work in St. Louis during the week and then return to Indianapolis for the weekend.  When driving to and from St. Louis, my journey on I 70 would take me past Effingham, Illinois and a large tall white cross built next to the highway.  198 feet tall and 113 feet wide.  Every time I saw the cross it served as a reminder of where my focus should be as I traveled to work or returned from my week’s work in St. Louis.  It was a reminder that God created us and is in control, even if we don’t acknowledge Him in our daily lives.  The view of the cross was a” reboot” to my mind allowing me to refocus and manage whatever thoughts were on my mind.

Timothy reminds us that it does take “work” to share the Good News with others.  Managing how the world influences us takes work on our part.  We have to filter out what is not of God and search for what is of God in every situation.  Not all of us have the luxury of seeing a nearly 200-foot cross to remind us to reboot and refocus.  In your personal life seek to create a visible landmark and reminder that helps you reboot and manage what you allow from the outside world into your spiritual life.  It could be a scripture verse you keep in your pocket.  Or it could be a Christian themed bracelet or necklace that you wear every day.  Whatever your choice, begin to manage the world around you.  Work at deciding what worldly information comes into your world and what worldly information is kept out.  Work to keep a clear mind in every situation.