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How many words is a picture worth?

And how many words are in this picture?

Doesn’t matter. What matters is that we don’t go through our daily motions and miss inspirational moments, so that we can let that inspiration linger in us long enough to pay it forward.

The words in the picture that did that for me?

“And let us Love each other well, in Christian Holiness”.

Let’s forgive each other our human sins, as we would expect, or hope, others would do for us.

Is Pentecost A Tool?

You know who shapes the minds, bodies and spirits of children?

No, seriously, do you know?

You do!

It was 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection that the Holy Spirit descended upon them. Some say this is the day the Church was born. This morning, it’s my privilege to help several dozen youngsters understand this a little better than they did yesterday.

And 50 days from today, will it still be with them? What kind of pressure do you place on yourself to be a beacon for children?

Faithful followers can vouch for me, after well over 2,000 jeff noel blog posts, I rarely say this, “You need to watch this.”  Besides being one of the world’s shortest sermons at 1:41, it is refreshingly entertaining.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Here’s 9,000 worth.

PS.  In the lower right corner photo is a box of good shoes our son can no longer wear.  We brought them along and found the perfect home for them.

Two Were Gathered Here, in 2005

We are taught many things in our lifetimes. Information. Lessons.

When we are young, we are taught to respect adults and trust that they know what they are talking about.

Once we become adults, we realize how many questions we have that still remain unanswered.

Like, “What is Church?”

Perhaps Church is anywhere there are two or more gathered to serve in God’s name, like yesterday, in our car.

Pray.

Until.

Something.

Happens.

Lowell, MA Church Sign

Pray, Pay, Obey

What does that mean exactly?  Growing up Luthern, in a small Pennsylvania town, there weren’t many Catholics. In fact, I don’t recall knowing what a Catholic was until college.

Well, life comes full circle and here I am, a devoted Catholic for over a decade. There are something like 15,000 members of our Holy Family congregation. All walks of like.

One of them, I see occasionally at Gold’s Gym.  We recently had a nice conversation with these highlights:

Draw nearer to God and God will draw nearer to you. James 4:8.

True love doesnt force anything.

Greed, sloth, doubt, hypocracy – the four points in the circle surrounding the four squares.

Pay, pray and obey Catholic.  This is how my friend (60-something) described himself.

God does not want good men in heaven, he wants Saints.

Gotta go.  Time to work on praying, obeying, paying and demonstrating.

What Will You Headline Read?

Guest Blogger, Bob Stewart, returns today with another insightful look at life, our Faith, and our responsibility to both. Take it away Bob….

“Mom called me the other day from Tennessee, where I was raised, to read to me a couple of obituaries.  I know – that sounds so exciting, doesn’t it?  But that’s what my mom does.  She does it to let me know who I should know who either died or is related to someone who died.

But on this last call, she read to me about Albert Hamby, who died at the age of 87.  Why should that stand out at all to me?  I didn’t let this obituary go without a reverent moment of reflection.  Albert was my pastor when I was little – when I made Jesus my Savior.  That was and is a spiritual “marker” in my life, and an important person in showing me the way was Albert Hamby.

Are you living a legacy, as Dr. Johnny Hunt said in his book Building Your Leadership Résumé, which is going to outlast you?  Are you building “markers” in other people’s lives that, after you are gone, are still there to help others along the way?  It could be multitudes or your own family, and it is a question I am asking myself as well.

I am reminded of a song from Steve Green back in the 1980s, called “Find Us Faithful.”  In the chorus, he stated, “Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.  May the fire of our devotion light their way.  May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe, and the lives we live inspire them to obey.  Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.”

Again, I ask, “Are you living a legacy?”

Bob Stewart

A Blog of a Different Color

Ladies and Gentleman, may I present Ohio’s Craig Nickoloff, a man who works hard to help make the world a better place for younger generations.  Here is Craig’s contribution to our Spirit entitled:

Coram Deo…

“I’m growing.

Always will be.

Human nature I guess.

I used to pride myself on doing my best.

Had a re-examination though.

Conclusion…

I still pride myself on doing my best.

Peeling away that outer layer, though, reveals a different motivation.

As a school student, I was out to bust stereotypes.
I was a scholar, athlete and musician; and excelled at each. But I wanted to prove that the different castes could get along well with each other. They didn’t have to stick to their circles for comfort’s sake. My target audience was my peers. By peers, I mean not just friends my age, but also family and anyone else who wanted to watch. It was a noble effort, but in the end, I was looking out for myself. I was expending a lot of energy to impress many others.

I got tired.

So, college – a sort of dark time – consisted of me dropping all pretenses and doing what I wanted. Fortunately, I come from a great family and the lessons they have taught me carried me and kept me from going any deeper.

And one key thing here…
God watched over me…
As he does all of us.

And his plan had much, much more in store for me.

God brought a strong, beautiful woman into my life. I don’t say beautiful to brag about her outwardly (which is nonetheless true), but to praise how God has molded her spiritually. He used her to guide me back to Him.

So it is in this state that I sit here, wondering how He’ll use me.

My motivation now is not that of before. I’m not living my life to impress others, not even my wife.
I hate to say it. But, it is possible to do “good” things; be a generally “good” person; live an outwardly respectable, impressive life; but also be a contradictory, no-good liar on the inside.
It’d be exhausting, but it’s possible.

Strip it all down.
Past bare body…
Past bare bones…
Past bare words…
Right down to bare spirit.

me & God.
mano y Omnipotent Creator.

He loves me so much that he’d sent his son, Jesus Christ, to take the entire world’s sins on his shoulders and die.

He knows my heart. He knows my thoughts. He knows my words. He knows my actions.

I get away with nothing.

Is my love for him pure?
Is my faith unwavering?

God gave us free will. It’s so hard to resist human temptations.

There’s a saying, “I’d rather beg forgiveness than ask permission” that helps some to make decisions.
That’s fine and dandy with our peers, as we live out our real-time lives.

But with God, while he is a forgiving God, he knows that that saying went through your head in the first place.
So, the whole procedural “beg for forgiveness” later thing doesn’t work so well.

I recently started a Bible study, published in Tabletalk magazine, with my wife. At the end of each page is an exercise entitled “Coram Deo.” In Latin, it literally means “before the face of God.”

So, going through the actions, through the motions, through the works is a nice thing. But what is it that really serves as the motivation?

I believe that the true calling of a Christian is to live one’s life Coram Deo.

And if I live my life before the face of God and glory in his grace and mercy, then all of the other “good” things will fall into place as I obey his commands.

Those actions won’t be done to prove, they’ll be done to demonstrate.

I’m praying everyday for strength and wisdom to do my best at living my life…

…Coram Deo.”

Only Crumbs

“Can you imagine a world without Christmas?” — Father Kenny

It’s only been one month, but I miss Christmas.

How about you?  Do you miss Christmas?

Can still remember what our Priest said (above) at Christmas Mass. Can you imagine?

Oh, I get it, most people aren’t thinking about Christmas today, unless they are reminded from their credit card bill.  Makes sense, I guess.

Christmas comes once a year.  Lights, trees, songs, TV specials, food, gifts, traditions…

But what if we celebrated it everyday?

Can you imagine a world with Christmas everyday?