Month: July 2023

Thoughts from here and there…Healthy Choices

He looked a bit confused, walking back and forth in front of the frozen entree food section at Pick and Save. I couldn’t help but stop and observe as he opened first one door and then another trying to decide between the perplexing numbers of choices that were available.

Have you ever stood there and seriously considered the choices between: Banquet, Marie Callander’s, Healthy Choice, Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine, Stouffers, Gourmet, Swanson, and On-Cor, among others? I mean these are just brand names. The brand names do not begin to communicate the extraordinary variety of choices.

The man finally made a decision. He reached in a removed a Healthy Choice entree. I do not know what kind it was. He felt, perhaps, that he was making a healthy choice.

I could not help but question the name of this food product, “Healthy Choice.” I mean we are people who, because of time and circumstances, feel it necessary to use what is provided us. Frozen entrees are available in abundance. I think we will admit that they are not the healthiest of choices. They contain a lot of additives and preservatives that are not present in food cooked from scratch. Don’t take me wrong here I am not trying to make anyone feel guilty. There have been times when Helga was gone, and I have eaten a prepared or frozen entree.

In this situation, the thought occurred to me, “Is there a similarity between standing in front of the frozen entree section of a super-market selecting a dinner and standing in the midst of life and attempting to make healthy choices?” How do we make healthy choices, anyway?

The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Phillipian Church in which he emphasized how to experience “joy” or “rejoicing in the Lord.” This word or phrase appears sixteen times in his letter. There were perils to watch out for which were not that much different from what we face today. The church had many enemies. There was danger in a self-seeking attitude and of pride, both of which could divide the people or cause great personal unhappiness. Paul concludes his letter with a few words that sum up how one may make healthy choices.

“Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you,” (Philippians 4:8-9, NRSV).

The Christian faces a vast array of choices. Each source attempts to establish its claim to our decision-making processes. We need to investigate and evaluate well before we choose. Paul’s words provide a sound basis for measuring the potential harm or benefit of every choice.

Healthy choices. let’s make healthy choices for ourselves and for the benefit of others.

Thoughts from here and there…Building for the Present and the Future

We are what we have worked together to create. We will be what together we help to create.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” (Preamble of The Constitution of The United States of America)

A simple statement, yet one that is very profound. It is inclusive of all that the founders of this country hoped to create. This is what they pledged themselves, their lives and their sacred fortunes to create. For this they fought a superior British army and navy and won.

Success of the American dream was dependent first of all on a vision of a free country with the government in the hands of the citizenry rather than a monarchy. But our founding fathers and mothers realized that vision alone is not enough.

This is why they embarked on an expensive and dangerous mission. It was not enough for the few to band together for the common purpose, they needed the many. People had to be convinced of the purity and beauty of the vision and to entertain the necessity of engaging in the mission. It was to be a long and costly process. It was to be a successful process.

Let us pause and take the time to ponder, to reflect what make America the great nation that it has been and continues to be. At the same time we can apply the same principles to our own communities of Grafton and Port Washington. Then realize that the same principles also relate to the community of the Church.

Our founding mothers and fathers built a country. We also build communities and congregations. It is not automatic. It takes thoughtful participation and sheer hard work. Is it worth it. Well, where else would you like to live or worship. If you can answer this question than you know that your sacrifices are worth it all.

Thoughts from there and there…Standing At the Place of Promise

They stood at the place disappointed, discouraged and defeated. It was their own fault. They had refused to believe that what had been promised could be accomplished with the help of the god who had led them to this place.

From where they stood they could see the land, the Promised Land; the land promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and their descendants. It was a country that was described as “flowing with milk and honey.” This was the fulfillment of a dream that would soon turn into the people’s worst nightmare.

Spies had been sent out to investigate the land and to gather intelligence and to bring back some representative produce and products. The spies had been gone for forty days. There were many excited people who eagerly awaited their report. What a report it was!

The majority of the spies could only see the negative. It was a good land, productive and fruitful, but the people in the land were strong. The towns were large and well-fortified. There was a race of giants who invoked great fear.

One voice was heard encouraging immediate possession. The majority said it was impossible. As the word spread the people raised a loud cry of dismay and complaint. The intensity o their disappointment was readily observed.

No matter how loud was the one voice, the people would not listen. They believed the negative majority. The whole assembly questioned the leadership and the purpose that had brought them to this place. In a short time they decided to appoint another captain and return to the slavery from which they had been rescued.

So often we stand at the place of promise. We seek information and understanding, and that is as it should be. Too often we all our humanness to defeat the power of divine intention and purpose. Too often we remain as we are disappointed, discouraged, and defeated. God would not have it so.

If our founding mothers and fathers had possessed the same attitude as did Israel at Kadesh–barnea, this land would not have been settled, the Revolution would not have taken place, we would still be under the yoke of English rule and authority.

The founders did not listen to the voices of the majority, neither should we, that is and unless, those voices herald the will and purposes of God.

We can accomplish what needs to be done if we trust in the God who loves and guides us. Let us go up and possess the land!

Thoughts from here and there…Conflict Resolution

I am neither a hawk or a dove. Sometimes war is necessary, but I have come to believe that national or international conflicts will not be solved by “war.”

There are two biblical citations that come to mind: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good, (Romans 12:21, NRSVA), and When Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword,” (Matthew 26:52, NRSVA). The difficulty is that this is the Christian’s perspective it is not the perspective of the world. We are faced with a crisis in the Ukraine that will not be resolved by the Russian war.

This leads me to share with you a thoughtful and insightful observation that I discovered in a Homiletics Magazine on line:

“As the world’s only superpower, the United States bears grave responsibilities of leadership. Sometimes we must use force, and sometimes restraint. Sometimes we must act against world opinion.”

Popular psychiatrist M. Scott Peck makes an intriguing observation:

‘It is notable that two hundred years ago this new nation spent virtually no money and no energy attempting to control the behavior of the other nations of the world. Yet one by one, almost ten by ten, the peoples of these nations followed our spiritual and political example to seek the same freedoms for themselves. It is hard to escape the conclusion that in the years since, our political and spiritual leadership has declined in inverse proportion to the increasing amounts of money and effort we have expended to manipulate other countries…I wonder, if we in the United States were to concentrate—as our overwhelmingly major priority—on making ourselves the best possible society we can be, whether the nations of the world might once again, without any pressure except the influence of example, begin to emulate us.'”

This just might work, if we work at it.