Regular attendance in religious services can improve optimism, reduce depression, and even help you live longer. It may not work for all, but it is worth a try. Learn more in the Study links religious services to optimism story at Reuters.
Please visit your church, mosque, temple, synagogue, house of worship, shrine, Daoguan, Wat or Gurdwara this week.
*** NOTE: I humbly apologize if I have misstated, misspelled or omitted your place of worship.
Bible Summary:
A month and a half after leaving Egypt, the Israelites are just opposite a desert from Mount Sinai when they start complaining to Moses about him starving them to death. God tells Moses He will rain food down from the sky and that the people must collect enough, two quarts each, except on the sixth day when they are to collect four. Moses and Aaron tell the Israelites that God has heard their complaints “against Him”. Once the morning dew evaporates on the next day, thin and flaky white seeds that taste like thin cakes made with honey cover the desert. They eat this manna from heaven for the next forty years until they reach Canaan.
My Thoughts:
Things Become Familiar: In a story like this it is easy to think the Israelites are ungrateful for what God has done for them, but I think it is more the case of things becoming familiar and the miracles being forgotten over time.
I used to travel a bit for work and the first time I saw the Rocky Mountains I was in complete awe. I thought they were so majestic, with the sun peering over the peaks as the day began to end. But after a while, they just became part of the scenery, part of the background. They had lost their newness. It takes effort to remember our everyday miracles.
On the Seventh Day We Rest and Worship: God tells us to take a break once a week. This rarely happens in America. We move at 5,000 miles an hour all the time and do not know how to take a break. Caffeine is the drug of choice to keep us going at this incredible pace.
Try to take a break for one hour, yes, a whole hour once a week. It will be very difficult at first, doing nothing for an hour, but keep at it until you make it the whole hour. You will be surprised how this can change your life.
According the United Nations, about 1 million people in Zimbabwe will be short food until next March. It would be great if some farmers around the world could collect a little surplus grain or corn each and send it to Zimbabwe to help. In the grand scheme of things, we are all in this world together. See full WFP says more than 1 million Zimbabweans need food aid story at Reuters.
Bible Summary:
Moses and the Israelites celebrate their victory over the Egyptians with a song that describes the power of God’s right hand in drowning the army in the Red Sea plus the fear in the tribes neighboring Canaan.
Then Moses leads the Israelites away from the Red Sea and across a desert for three days without water. They finally find water but it is too bitter to drink, so the Israelites complain to Moses. He prays to God and learns a type of wood to throw into the water to make it fit to drink.
Later, God tells the Israelites laws to live by and warns them to obey or He will punish them with diseases like the Egyptians.
My Thoughts:
No Water: Can you imagine walking three days across a desert without water, only to finally finding some that you cannot drink? Today, people complain if the faucet is off just a couple hours for repairs. We take so many things for granted that we fail to see how blessed we truly are. Next time you are in a situation you would normally complain, stop, ask how long before things will be cleared up, and then go do something else: take a walk, talk to a friend, read a book, etc. You will be surprised how this approach can reduce your stress and improve your relationships.
Unwritten Commandments: I was surprised to hear that God was already laying down the laws, though just verbally, shortly after freeing the Israelites. I always thought they came down first in hard copy with the Ten Commandments. Guess we will find out more as the story unfolds.
It is too bad that going to the circus has lost its flair around the world (see Circus Nostalgia story at Reuters). Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was top entertainment 100 years ago but has been replaced by movies, video games, and many other “artificial” entertainments today. I really enjoyed watching live performers do some amazing feats at the Shriners Circus six years ago in Columbus, Ohio. Plan on trying something “new” in 2012 by going to the circus. Enjoy!
Bible Summary:
The Israelites camp between the desert and Red Sea. When the king of Egypt is told the slaves have left, he changes his mind and pursues them with his entire army. Upon seeing the approaching army, the Israelites complain to Moses for taking them out of Egypt just to die in the desert. Moses tells them not to be afraid, that God will fight for them.
God places the pillar of clouds between the Israelites and the army, then, at God’s command, Moses lifts his walking stick and parts the Red Sea. A great wind blows all night and dries a path that the Israelites walk across with the walls of water on each side. The Egyptian army pursues them. After the Israelites reach the other side, the walls of water collapse on the Egyptian army, destroying them all. The Israelites stand in awe of God’s power and now have faith in his servant Moses.
My Thoughts:
Real Work: In the grief of losing his first-born son, the king sets the Hebrews free. A little while later he realizes that the Egyptians will have to do all the work the slaves used to do, including cooking and serving meals, so he wants them back.
Many people are afraid of real work. They want to take the easy way out and let someone else do the work. After a while, they rely on others for all their needs and cannot function when the help is taken away. Real work gives you strength, builds character, gives you confidence, and more. It is especially gratifying if you do it for someone else, like shoveling the elderly neighbor’s snow. So, plan a project, begin the work, and see what you can accomplish.
Keeping the Faith: Oh, ye of little faith. The Israelites were happy when Moses freed them, but quickly turned on him when the king’s army showed up.
It is difficult to keep the faith, especially during difficult times. We just want to give up and go back to our old dreary life. Don’t give up. Don’t be afraid. God is with you and you will prevail to see brighter days and success. Keep the faith!
The Republic of Congo launched a 2.5 million acre tree planting project for US$2.5 billion over tens years that will help the African environment and add 50,000 jobs. Sounds like a great idea. See full Congo launches large-scale tree-planting programme story originally at Yahoo! News.
Bible Summary:
On the day the Israelites are set free, Moses tells them how to remember that day every year going forward by sacrificing first-born animals and not eating leavened bread. Moses takes Joseph’s mummified body as they had promised many centuries before and leads them through the desert toward the Red Sea instead of by a shorter route. God did not want the Israelites to change their minds and return to Egypt when they learn they have to fight. God leads them with a pillar of cloud during the day and pillar of fire to light the way at night.
My Thoughts:
Backs Against the Wall: God knows the Egyptians are going to pursue. He also knows the Israelites, even with the excitement from their new freedom, would not have the confidence after centuries of slavery to fight the Egyptians unless He backed them against the wall of the Red Sea.
Maybe this is why God sometimes makes our struggles so difficult, so we too build confidence to do greater things in the future.
The Pillars: I have participated in Komen Races for the Cure with 55,000 others in a river of people coursing their way through downtown Columbus, so I can only imagine what 2.4 million Israelites looked liked as they escaped from Egypt. With no cell phones, Internet, TV, radio, or even walkie-talkies, it must have been extremely difficult to communicate with such a large crowd, so God devised the pillars of cloud and fire so they could all see the way.
Sometimes I wish God would show me a large sign to guide my life in the right direction, instead He sends small signals and some people at the right time. You just have to use your intuition, which is God speaking within you.
Saint Francis lived in Italy during the Dark Ages from 1182 to 1226. He was born into wealth and lived a carefree adolescence singing with the troubadours. After a couple stints of military duty, a serious illness, and a vision of Jesus telling him to repair his church which was falling into ruin, Saint Francis renounced his wealth, became a beggar, preached in the streets, and repaired old churches.
Many people followed Saint Francis and he ultimately established the Franciscan Order. As his health declined and his eyesight progressively worsened, he returned to his ascetic life in a hut and communed with nature. Birds were said to have landed on his arms and eaten from his hands. Later in life during a 40-day fast, he received the stigmata, wounds on his wrists, ankles, head and side that mimicked those of Christ. Learn more about Saint Francis of Assisi at Wikipedia.
Why is St. Francis one of my favorite people? To the dismay of his family and friends, Saint Francis renounced his wealth and did what Jesus called him to do. He accepted a hard life, one of an ascetic and his health suffered for it, but also a life of great purpose. This simple man initiated an order of the church that continues to do great things even to this day – 785 years after his death. Everything that Saint Francis did was out of love, so much so that even animals did not fear him. He is considered the patron saint of animals and the environment.
So, when people question what you are doing with your life, even if it flies in the face of convention, tell them the story of Saint Francis. Follow Christ’s example and you too can make a difference for hundreds of years to come, even if just through your own family. Use the lyrics of the Prayer of Saint Francis to guide you.
Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring your love.
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord,
And where there’s doubt, true faith in you.
Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness only light,
And where there’s sadness ever joy.
Oh Master, grant that I may never seek,
So much to be consoled as to console.
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
In giving of ourselves that we receive,
And in dying that we’re born to eternal life.
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Cool video by Angelina in Assisi on YouTube.
Another version by Sarah MacLachlan.