We Need to Change Our Thoughts and Prayers

 It has taken me many months, and much reflection to understand the frustration over the words “Thoughts and Prayers” after a tragedy. In transparency, if I say I’m praying for you, trust me. You are being lifted up in prayer, but I still understand the frustration. As a believer in Christ and His power that He can do anything, but still gives us the choice to make our own choices, I believe in the power of prayer. I have had answers to prayer that I have appreciated. Of course, some of that appreciation came much later. The real eye-opener came when I was half watching a movie. In the movie, A Walk to Remember, the boy tells the girl that he needs her help with a class in school. She responds with, “Great, I’ll pray for you.” 

That made it clear for me. Reflect on that. She was not willing to DO something. She just said four words that contain a four-letter word that is an excuse to not do something. She’ll pray for him. It’s nice. Have we ever noticed that the word, “nice” is not in the Bible? Nice does not comfort someone. Action does. 

The church needs to step-in and begin healing our communities. Our nation is in torment. Mass shootings are occurring in mass numbers. Part of the problem is that people have been cooped up in their homes for over a year. I feared there would be a problem with the entire country when this pandemic hit. Unfortunately, my fears were correct. It is not just the mass shootings. 

Suicides are on the rise. Domestic violence is on the rise with much of the violence ending in a killing. People are in distress. How do we help? We sacrifice. We make sure we can donate to places that provide for the physical needs of people, so it is one less burden that they have to bear. We listen and empower. We, the Christian community, must stop demeaning and humorizing counseling. Counseling is not evil. Counseling is not for those who have severe mental health issues. Counseling is for everyone. Everyone struggles and everyone needs advice for the struggles for which they do not understand. We must empower people to seek the help they need. We must begin to partner with local counseling centers to guide people to the help that they need. 

We must love and be kind. We must post on social media words that empower and encourage. It is difficult, and I am guilty of not always complying to my own advice. Once we admit that we see a problem and have to change, then that is part of the problem being solved. 

So, what about prayers and thoughts? We can pray for the victims of any tragedy, but how about we add an addendum to our prayers? What if we began praying and asking God for what we can do to help? Be careful. We may not like the answer, which leads to some people saying God doesn’t answer their prayers. They just don’t like the answer. God may not ask you to just pray and think. God may ask you to get up and do something courageous. By the way, this is way beyond voting and writing our senators, which to me is just as useless as saying, “I’ll pray for you.” God expects you to do that. He will ask you to do something that is not so easy. 

The Bible tells us that putting our faith into action reveals our faith in Jesus. It has to be more than just praying and thinking. In the book of James it says, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? It is the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:14-17 (NIV) This verse has come to make more sense to me as I hear people, both Christians and non-Christians who do not want to hear about thoughts and prayers after tragedies. We must act. 

Yes, I pray, but I know deep down that the person needs more than just me thinking about them or prayer. They need an action. So, let us change our “Thoughts and prayers” to “I’m praying for a way for God to show me what I can do.” It’s long, but it is more specific, and it is what we all need. Our country needs to heal. May we begin to listen to what God is calling for us to do. It will be an action. It will be something that we have the knowledge, wisdom, gifts and talents to do, but we have to do it. 

It takes work. Our rescue missions need help. Families in our neighborhoods need help. Our schools can use volunteers in many areas, and it can lead to mentoring young people who need the guidance that they may not have. There are so many way ways to serve. For my friends who are artistic, there are various ways to express our art that will impact change and show love. I’m talking to myself on that last one. We have to do it. The church must step up and act. We must be the impact and the solution that our country needs right now. So, may we all begin to pray, “I’m praying for a. way for God to show me what I can do.” 

Passion--For the Love of the Game

For the past month, people gathered around their television sets and screamed in joy or frustration at the results of the men’s college basketball games. A sport that is truly unpredictable, and this year did not disappoint with upsets, a large school being an underdog, UCLA, and two of the best teams being the big dogs from small schools, Gonzaga and Baylor. Not all college athletes will play professionally. In fact, for most of these players, this is their one and only stage. So, why do they sacrifice so much just to play a game? For them, it’s more than a game. It’s a passion. 

When we have a passion, we focus on it and we do not worry that others may not appreciate our passion because it is not about what others think about our passions, but how we use our passions for other. Passions are laid on our hearts and we must pursue them. Some people are passionate about creating art with acting, painting, writing, or music. Other people are passionate about video games. Some people are passionate about politics. Whatever our passions are, we need to recognize that we have passions for a reason, and that reason is to make the world a better place. 

In the movie, National Treasure, the character Ben tells the other character, Riley, that they don’t need someone crazy, but one step away from crazy. It’s not obsession, but passion. Passion is one step away from crazy and obsession. Passionate people make a difference in the world because they refuse to quit, even when people surrounding them try to convince them to quit. 

Passion does not quit because the task becomes difficult. Passion digs in and become more entrained in the task during the most difficult times. The second day of the college basketball tournament, no one in America had a perfect bracket. Along with equity among the youth basketball programs that are producing players who are able to play at an elite level, the players on smaller teams have a passion that if they work together, then they can achieve anything, and one of the smaller schools did just that and won the entire tournament. 

Passion never takes for granted the opportunities that are given. Two of the biggest college basketball schools did not even make it to the tournament this year, Duke and the University of Kentucky. Just because they have renowned programs does not mean they will succeed. They have to want it. They have to want it so bad that they work harder than anyone else. As a fan of Duke, I saw some of the lackadaisical attitude early in the season, and when they gathered passion, it was too late. 

The same is for our own passions. We cannot take our opportunities for granted. The moment we begin to lose our fire, we will not produce the quality of work that we know we can. Once we realize that we need to become stronger in our passion, we can only hope we still have the opportunities in front of us, but if we don’t, we will have to find a different path. 

Our passion can be our relationships. Our passion can be creating space for knowledge. Our passion can be creative and artsy. Our passion can be helping and serving others. In the year 2020, many chose to follow their passions. Some people helped bring people to health in the medical field. Others created art while they were in lockdown. Others found a way to serve those who are underprivileged. Others found a passion in standing, marching, or speaking for those who are oppressed. Some were able to fulfill their passions in their careers with different normality. Some found new passions, and some people discovered that the passions they once had were no longer a fit for them. Our passions may not be important to others, but it is important to someone, and that one person could have the influence to change the world. 

When our passions are beneficial to others, we know we can make a positive influence on the world, but when our passions are selfish, we serve no one. Some people this last year have been so passionate about politics and their own political view that they have forgotten about those who believe differently than them are human beings. That kind of passion is dangerous, and it is that passion that can lead to division and wars. Some people were passionate about taking their revenge on others. Any person who harms others has crossed the line from passion to obsession and leads them to do insane actions. Passions do not harm. 

If our passions harm others, then they are not passions, they are obsessions. If we have to argue and stomp our feet on social media that our passions are the only ones that people should follow, then not only are we obsessed, but we are toeing the line of crazy, and neither of these are passionate. Athletes are using their platform for the good of the community. Their passions have led them to serve others. 

As we come to the end of lockdowns, we need to reignite passion and realize that we have to pursue the passion or end it and start a new one. We can sit in our rooms and wallow in pity for ourselves, or we can begin to see the beauty in life and move forward. The most satisfied people in life are those who pursued a passion. Those teams from the small schools that upset games in the men’s basketball tournament will talk about that game forever, as they should. They pursued a passion and achieved a milestone. We can sit back and judge. We can sit back and cry that we need to just feel our emotions. We can move forward and pursue our passions. The choice is ours.

For those of us in the church, let us choose to pursue our passions and create an atmosphere of love, grace, faith, hope, and kindness. If we can focus on what we can do and not on what we cannot do, our passions will not only be achieved, but they will benefit those who are on the receiving end. 

Maybe the month of March was madness for you. Maybe the entire year was like the college basketball tournament with twists, turns, upsets, defeat, and wins. No matter what the madness is, our passions can create a place where we are able to pursue that which God has called us, and we will have that one shining moment.  

Love Won

Easter. For some people, it is the one Sunday a year that they will attend church. For others, it is a day to dress in their new fancy clothes as they attend church and brunch afterward. For some people, it is about Easter egg hunts and chocolate bunnies. No matter what the day is for “some” people, the reality is that the day celebrates the act that Jesus did for ALL people. We celebrate this day because of the reason that Jesus died. He took our place with our sinful lives and died so we could live with him. That is true love. That is love that is amazing. That is the kind of love that wins.

For some people, they recognize that Easter, or the celebration of a holiday, began as a pagan holiday. They are correct but look at the irony. Passover is celebrated once a year with the Jews. The night Jesus was arrested was Passover. He was crucified the next day (Good Friday), and then rose from the dead on Sunday morning, which we now see as Easter. The pagans knew it was the resurrection Sunday, so they tried to distract, but the Christians did not let a small distraction take from the real celebration.

Jesus died to give us life. The only way we could receive the life is through the resurrection. Once Jesus came back to life, he proved he is God and that his power is over all others. When people ask me why I believe in what I cannot see, I remind them of all the concepts and truths that we cannot see today and yet we believe in them. This whole last year was based on a faith principle with science, scientists, experts, and human beings doing the right thing. We all lived by faith in 2020. It just may have been a different kind of faith that many are not used to understanding, but we lived in faith.

Now that I understand why Jesus had to die and coming back to life gives me life, it not only strengthens my faith, but gives me a reason to live the way I do. When someone does a sacrificial act of love, my response is not what I say but what I do. That is faith with works that reveals if my faith is alive or dead. For the past few years, I have discovered that my works cannot be just “good behaviors,” but actual works of love and kindness.

The church needs to be the leader in creating a loving and kind world. We are seeing the results of being mean, following rituals, regulations, and having “good behaviors.” It has backfired and cruelty is leading the way. With Jesus, love wins. True love wins. We can and must show the world this true love.

First, we need to put Jesus first. It needs to be about Jesus and not our country or our issues of what we see as fair or free. Jesus must be first in our lives in order to share him in the lives of the people in the community. Jesus fed people. He didn’t ask what their political beliefs were or if they even believed in him. When they came to hear him teach, he fed them, both physically and spiritually. Jesus took care of and still takes care of human’s physical needs.

Jesus loved without reservation and without judgement. He loved us before we ever loved him. He does not demand that we love him. He asks us to love him. Jesus does not force us to follow any rituals or rules because that is not love.

Love is patient. Love is kind. It is not rude. Love does not keep a record of wrongs. Jesus is patient. Jesus is kind. He is not rude. He does not keep a record of wrongs. We would have a much better society if we would follow the love of Jesus. Love sacrifices.

Love is patient. Jesus is patient with us when we sin and with all our flaws. We need to be patient with others. Patience means we have understanding. We need to be patient with those who believe politically and spiritually differently than us. We need to allow them to have their beliefs without thinking that our own lives are destroyed. Patience means we bear the sufferings that are upon us, but we do not give up on in defeat because we continue to move forward and do not allow humans to destroy our souls.

Love is kind. Jesus is kind to us and provides for us. Jesus provided for people on earth with physical needs and spiritual needs. He gave food to those who came to hear his teaching. He healed people. We need to be kind. We need to give sacrificially so that our community can see our love and kindness. We need to respond to events in the world that bother us with kindness and thoughtfulness with putting ourselves in the shoes of other people instead of being rude, crude, selfish, and thoughtless.

Love is not rude. Dear church, let us stop being rude to one another on social media. We do not have to prove that we are right. Let that happen. Our society needs so much encouragement and empowerment. For every rude comment that we make to others, let us make ten encouraging or empowering words for others to succeed. It may never change them, but it will change us. The world is watching the church closely right now. Are we going to be rude or kind? If we are rude, we are not love. We are not showing the love of Jesus because Jesus is never rude.

Love does not keep a record of wrongs. In our society, people want to remind others of what they did twenty years ago. I hope and pray we have all changed in the last twenty years. Jesus does not keep a record of our wrongs. Jesus gives grace. We need to give grace to others and ourselves. We need to stop bringing our past wrongs into our current lives. We need to stop bring the past in others’ lives. We need to live in the present in order to create a better future.

On the day that Jesus died, love won. On the day that Jesus came back from the dead, that love was meant for all people and to continue to win. Let us give the love of Jesus. Easter is not about bunnies, chocolate, pretty clothes, or productions at a church building. Easter is a reminder that when all is said and done, love has won. Let us keep that love and give it to others.