Beach House On An Island Somewhere?
Passion may also look like the answers we’d give to the questions we’ve all heard before:
“What would you do if you knew you could not fail?”
“What would you do for a job, if you didn’t need to work for money?”
“What would you do if you won the lottery?”
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.
Grabbed the wrong folder?
Been awake for an hour now, but not fully, wide-eyed, awake.
Sort of a numb-awake, if that’s even a term. The kind of semi-conscious consciousness from working really hard at something and having “sore muscles” from it.
Except, these muscles aren’t physical, they’re spiritual. Ever think so much, or meditate so much that you’re mind and spirit are foggy the next day? Perhaps it’s the equivalent of a hangover, without the nausea.
So many people are struggling with so many things. It’s everywhere and affects everyone. It overwhelms me.
And I often feel guilty.
Do you ever feel similar to this?
Crazy thing is, it’s always been like this.
So it deserves more dialogue, if for no other reason than to clear some thoughts, or at the very least, grab the right folder.
Got Courage?
Thank you Mary and to you too, Joseph, for your courage to do what was needed.
Rejoice.
Peace on Earth, good will toward men.
Emmanuel.
Prince of Peace.
And the list goes on and on.
But does my courage?
All Creation Sings
Merry Christmas from jeff noel.org
Fall, on your knees, oh hear the angel voices….
Merry Christmas to all of you.
Thank you for your kindness, prayers and support.
With joyful hope that 2010, and the realization that our Savior has arrived, gives us the Courage to do what needs to be done.
And also the Peace that comes from knowing that it’s not our will, but His.
A Song Can Takes Us Places
What’s your favorite Christmas song of all time?
I mean, if you could only pick one, what would it be?
My wife’s Grammy, who died in my arms at age 93, always said Little Drummer Boy was her favorite. She went to Heaven in September 1989.
It never occurred to me back then to ask her why. Why would it have occurred to me?
Well, all these years later, “Why?” is a fun and purposeful question.
Why do you enjoy your favorite Christmas song? For no reason? Or, for some special or purposeful reason.
Hey, I realize some of you may say, “Jeff, not everything has to have a purpose.”
Right. And this is the fundamental difference between those that drift through life and those that make a difference.
I enjoy listening to “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” as much as anyone. It’s funny, unexpected, and way not serious.
But Little Drummer Boy is not only Grammy’s favorite, but mine as well. Why? because I Look for little ways to help our son understand his family’s history.
His Grandfather, Jack (not the bear), my Dad, was a drummer. He started playing drums from the moment he could hold drumsticks in his hands.
He hitch-hiked 100 miles to Philadelphia, from his row-home in Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, just so he could take drum lessons from a particularly talented drummer.
He played drums in the Army band while stationed in Japan, during the Korean War.
He taught 30-minute drum lessons Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 4:00pm – 8:00pm, year round.
He played gigs on Friday and Saturday nights, year round.
As a young man, he had business cards printed. His title – “Drummer”.
From one stupid little Christmas song, a piece of our son’s family history is told, year after year.
But only if I put some thought into it.
And at Christmas, as it is all year round, it’s the thought that counts.
Joy
Audacious. Authentic. Audacious authenticity. How’s that work for you? It works really well on my end.
As a goal, I mean – audacious authenticity. Being boldly authentic. Not conforming to status quo, but rather, conforming to faith, hope and love.
Heard the song the other day by Kirk Franklin, or maybe it was Mary Mary, with a line that goes, “Can’t take my joy devil.”
That’s it, that was the right message at the right time.
In our lifetimes we probably listen to many types of music: Rock, Rap, Country, Jazz, Reggae, Pop, Classical, Christian, Oldies, Soul, R&B, etc.
Rock & Roll has always been my favorite. And then, while living out West, Country became a new love.
But today, hands down, without a doubt, Contemporary Christian is what sustains me.
To all the great folks at Central Florida’s Contemporary Christian radio station, Z88.3, or the Z, as some call it, thank you for what you do to help God’s people when they need it.
And just speaking for myself, this is every single day. Thank you.
PS. Click here to listen on your computer. The Z is currently playing 24-hour Christmas music.
In 1973, I remember hearing a Lynn Anderson song with the lyrics, “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden.”
And while writing five blogs a day, I never want to promise you any thing that can’t be delivered to you.
The Tiger Woods saga was noteworthy at jeff noel.org because it challenged all of us to decide one way or another. (And even if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice)
A jeffnoel.org reader emailed a valuable insight – none of us are in a position to forgive Tiger Woods. God and Tiger must handle this.
However, a point you may want to consider – the one that came immediately to mind – as you live your daily life, is this:
God will not withhold forgiveness to anyone who asks to be forgiven.
And if this is so, who is it in our lives that needs to be forgiven, but we have never offered them hope and encouragement?
Care. Share. Prepare.
Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?
Hey, gotta make this blog post brief. The phone is ringing….
Talk to you later.
Rejoice In The Lord. That was Sunday’s message. Rejoice!
This is a great goal, to rejoice. How is it done though? Life is so crazy busy that sometimes, I don’t know what day it is.
Ever feel like that?
Or, perhaps some people, this year especially, are struggling so much financially, that they can’t see straight.
So, what are we supposed to do? How does one rejoice under these circumstances?
We all know the answer, don’t we?