Today I will be restored

Today's Link
Light it Up

Saying for the Day
Love and business and family and religion and art and patriotism are nothing but shadows of words when a man's starving. ~O. Henry, Heart of the West, 1907

Picture of the Day

It is Sunday.
I will not watch television today.
I will read no political blogs.
I will try to clear my mind of all the hateful things being said by both sides.
For the day I will try to forget politics.
I will go to Church.
I will take pictures.
I will sing and praise God.
God will speak to me in the sermon.
I will fellowship with other Christians.
I will update the Church Website.
I will spend some time praying for the nation.
I will pray that after the election, whoever wins, the nastiness will end and the nation can struggle toward some kind of unity.
I will play with the dog.
I will meditate on the God who loves us despite what we do to each other.
I will soak in my bathtub with the door.
Then I might be able to make it through to the election.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
Pastor Joan has decided to preach on the First Lesson today and in particular on the part that reads “To know the Lord means that one will defend the cause of the poor and needy (Jer. 22:16). The renewed covenant is possible only because the Lord will forgive iniquity and not remember sin. Our hope lies in a God who forgets.”
This is part of what she plans to say.
“ The Church like the Old Testament people of God is expected, no required to be concerned about the poor and the needy. We neglect that requirement at our own risk. That’s why the National Church raises money for World Hunger. It is our obligation to feed the hungry. It is our obligation to care for all the poor. Not just the poor we like. Not just the poor that meet our qualifications. All the poor and needy are to be defended. We have a hard time with that. Some of the poor are illegal aliens, some are lazy, some just aren’t our kind of people but we are to defend their cause anyway. It isn’t a fair requirement. It runs against common sense. But it is God’s requirement ignore it at your own peril.
You see the new covenant makes no sense either. We sin. We fail . We don’t live the way we are supposed to but God forgives us. Then God does something even less understandable He forgets. Our hope lies in the God who forgets.
God does not keep a running account of our failures. Unlike us who forgive and file the sin for future use God forgets. We get to start every day fresh and new. We start with a clean slate. God forgives and then forgets. Our hope is in the God who forgets.
But the prophet warns that to know the Lord means that one will defend the poor and needy. It is as much the new covenant as God’s forgiveness.
We are the New Covenant People of God let us strive to know the Lord.

Wrap Up

What I wrote above is pretty well the way the day went except you can add two canasta games, one won by Pennie, and one by Betty. Now I need to go and soak and then have a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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