How are you NEW?

It took all of my willpower not to write before Easter. As a minister and former pastor so many ideas came, to use as thoughts to write about this high Holy Day. Now that you have had the experience of the day, attended worship, visited with family, met new friends, read something really inspiring, my only question is "How are you NEW?

Ressurection is about rising from the old, shaking off the old, rising and entering into the new. How are you NEW? If you have not considered your newness you have not yet experienced Easter. The real blessing of Easter is the opportunity to consider how we can become new spiritual beings, which of course impacts our behaviors and therefore produces newness in our lives. This newness is seen in more love, more relationships that are good, more good to rejoice about, more of God's long list of good. So how are you finding and experiencing the new good in your life. During the past days I got to see some of my cracks and crevices that I am more than happy to release as my old ways. My favorite change is in my expectation. On Easter I was speaking with someone who started their sentence with the words, "something is going on with me" then they paused, in the seconds of the pause I expected they were going to say something not good was happening with them and started to respond out of that kind of concern - WRONG - WRONG
they were about to say something different was happening and it's outcome was good. I could say that I have heard many more stories from people who had bad things happening, but that would just be an excuse. I no longer will expect anything but good from others. I have already moved to expecting good for myself in my business and dealings, but now I must assign that to my interactions with others. We often get what we expect. Watch what you EXPECT, you may be getting just what you expect.

Now, again I ask, How are You NEW?

Peace

April Fools Blessings

Tricks, jokes, funny pranks, good clean fun, hearty laughs, laughter that makes you cry, are all things that keep us laughing and feeling good. It is so important to be able to laugh. Doctors say a good laugh not only releases tensions, but causes our organs to become healthier from the increased oxygen from the laugh to our cells.

We need to laugh more. Why is it that some religious people are always so serious? Is it a part of that Drama we like so much? Somehow we have created an idea in this culture that serious things are more important than anything that looks like frivolity. Notice the word frivolity related to the word frivolous. It is not frivolous to laugh. Some of our Puritan history serves no good purpose. In this life as we contemplate God's good, remember to smile, laugh out loud, feel the good that comes from laughing. It is only when you feel good that you can practice and participate in God's good to you and others.

Be Blessed on this day of fun!

Peace