The doorbell woke me up from an hour-plus nap. Was exhausted from traveling and feeling sick all week. Had collapsed shortly after arriving home, on the family room couch as our son played.
Thinking it might be a neighbor needing help, I staggered to the door, quite literally.
Mormon Sisters, one from Tongo and one from United States, visited our house early Friday evening, wanting to share the good news about Jesus Christ. Both Sisters – that’s what they’re called during their 18-month mission -seemed to be in their early twenties.
I actually did most of the talking, for about 15 minutes. In hind sight, wish it had been the other way around. If only I had thought of the questions during the front porch meeting, instead of after.
Do you challenge yourself each and every day? To learn, to grow, to stretch?
So Wednesday I fly from Orlando to Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University, and site of the Leadership workshop I conducted on Thursday. But because the departing flight was so early, I waited until I unpacked at the hotel to go for a 30-minute run around campus.
Enter the Dalai Lama.
He was at Indiana University to speak. Outside the building, many visitors were mixing and mingling. Two TV cameras on tripods were taping “interviews”.
One Monk was sitting quietly on a bench, reading. Politely asking if I could speak with him, we engaged in a 15-minute conversation. He had just come from Nepal a week earlier. Our conversation was casual, easy, respectful.
Perhaps it was my accent, coupled with my ignorance – my depth of Buddhist understanding is quite shallow, so I asked, “What’s at the very center of Buddhism?”
It took several minutes to explain the question’s intent, including sharing, “At the center of my Christian beliefs is Jesus, Love.”
He thought for a brief moment and said, “Compassion.”
We travel through life, day after day, going through the motions. This is something most humans have in common.
As I sit here in the Indianapolis airport, reflecting back on the past few days, one of the highlights was meeting Rigzin Monk, a Buddhist Monk from Nepal. We spoke for about 15 minutes.
Another highlight, was spending hours talking with a fellow professional speaker. He should be dead. He lost 175 pounds. His son has special needs. He likes to take long walks – and we took one last night.
Neither my friend nor Rigzin Monk will ever read this, but that won’t stop the humility from washing over me.
In the midst of controversy, the seeds of dialogue are sown. There are tough decisions, perhaps life-altering decisions, that need to be made. Even when we choose not to decide, we still have made a choice.
This Alabama Judge leaves no doubt where he stands.
Do you? Will you, some day? Or will we all succumb to fear and doubt?
The following is a poem written by Judge Roy Moore from Alabama. Judge Moore was sued by the ACLU for displaying the Ten Commandments in his courtroom foyer. He has been stripped of his judgeship and now they are trying to strip his right to practice law in Alabama ! The judge’s poem sums it up quite well.
America the beautiful,
or so you used to be.
Land of the Pilgrims’ pride;
I’m glad they’ll never see.
Babies piled in dumpsters,
Abortion on demand,
Oh, sweet land of liberty;
your house is on the sand.
Our children wander aimlessly
poisoned by cocaine
choosing to indulge their lusts,
when God has said abstain
From sea to shining sea,
our Nation turns away
From the teaching of God’s love
and a need to always pray
We’ve kept God in our temples,
how callous we have grown.
When earth is but His footstool,
and Heaven is His throne.
We’ve voted in a government
that’s rotting at the core,
Appointing Godless Judges
who throw reason out the door,
Too soft to place a killer
in a well deserved tomb,
But brave enough to kill a baby
before he leaves the womb.
You think that God’s not angry,
that our land’s a moral slum ?
How much longer will He wait
before His judgment comes ?
How are we to face our God,
from Whom we cannot hide ?
What then is left for us to do,
but stem this evil tide ?
If we who are His children,
will humbly turn and pray;
Seek His holy face
and mend our evil way:
Then God will hear from Heaven;
and forgive us of our sins,
He’ll heal our sickly land
and those who live within….
But, America the Beautiful,
If you don’t – then you will see,
A sad but Holy God
withdraw His hand from Thee.
The young girl, our neighbor, is going to be alright. The fractures and complications do not require surgery.
Thank you to everyone who found a moment(s) to pray. We ask that you continue to pray, for everyone. There is such a need for prayer. How about for world peace with the New York car bomb attempt? Or, for a way to stop the oil from spewing into the Gulf of Mexico?
Here’s Chris Tomlin’s song that inspired today’s post title. HIS glory is our refuge:
