Week Ending Friday, December 29, 2023
{quotes}
We savor in small pockets. We grab at the season, but it passes too quickly. December 26 arrives. We stack the trees by the roadside. We pull out our new planners and prepare for the next thing on the calendar. We tell ourselves, “Next year. Next year will be the year we get this season right.” Next year, we will try again.
Hannah Brenchner
Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.
James Baldwin
Don’t let anybody walk through your mind with dirty feet.
Gandhi
Peace is not the absence of conflict but the ability to cope with conflict by peaceful means.
Ronald Reagan
{blessings}
May you be blessed to become a spiritual magnet and attract whatever goodness it is that you seek.
{prayers}
Utterly Relieved
Dear God, Help me do the hard thing. Guide me to greet the unpleasant with an open heart. Give me the stamina to see it through. I pray that I will reach the other side more mature, utterly relieved, and content with my circumstances.
But Once
Dear God, I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do, any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.
Stephen Grellet
Bless This Home
Holy God, Bless this home. Bring your perfect peace to our family, and may we live together in loving kindness.
Prayer for Israelis
Dear God, their grief is mixed with joy. They mourn the dead and celebrate the living. The people speak in a somber tone, mingled with hope for the future. O, Israel, so complex, yet so simple. Only to fulfill Your commandment. May they always serve You in the holy land of Your promise. (link to Prayer for Palestinians)
Prayer for Palestinians
Dear God, protect the innocent victims who have been betrayed by their leaders. The cruel and vicious men who plotted against their own people, to put them in harm’s way, to starve them, and to forsake them for personal gain and glory. May all Your children soon live together in peace and harmony, safety and security in the holy land of Your promise. (link to Prayer for Israelis)
{bible affirmations}
Hebrews 12:10
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Philippians 1:3
I thank my God every time I remember you.
Deuteronomy 30:9
The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous.
Isaiah 2:4
God shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
{stories, features, videos}
Story: Christmas Thorns Bouquet
Story: Old-Timey Christmas Tale
Music Video: Day After Christmas Matthew West
Feature: 8 Things You Should Never Say to Your Partner
Comedy Video: I Ain’t Praying for That John Crist
Parable: The Horse and the Sparrow