20-22 Covid-19 Daily Reflections

It is good to do some thinking while driving a long distance. It is also beneficial to pray. Sometimes I listen to the same passage of Scripture over and over and let God reveal what He has in mind for me in that message. Here is the one I was pondering while driving to Lethbridge yesterday morning. I chose this text because I planned to spend some time with employees of a client whose facility was on fire last week. Psalm 46:1-3   "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." We seek refuge in God not because we want to hide from the challenges we have to face. Seeking refuge in God does not mean living in denial. We seek refuge in God so we can have the strength to deal with our problems and troubles.  Everything might appear to be overwhelming, but we don't ha...

Some good friends told me that I look like a teenage mutant ninja turtle after seeing this picture. How flattering! Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman created these characters in 1984. The question I have had for myself is whether we can be mutants. Some would say "yes" to this question based on what we have done with our scientific and genetic endeavors. In brief, mutant means "An organism, cell, virus, or gene resulting from a genetic mutation." It might be short-sighted to study the nature of mutation according to physical science only. We have witnessed both moral and spiritual expressions of mutation in recent years. Let us consider a few of them. The cancellation of the traditional family is one of my them. The increasing coverage in this area threatens people who believe in the value of traditional family. Somehow things that used to be cherished are now questioned. Some people applaud lawlessness. The US went through the whole summer of 2020 with inte...

I was talking to some friends yesterday about the prodigal son's story in the Bible as we shared our experience in raising children. It is a parable that has been taught in churches often. Prodigal means wasteful extravagant. The parable tells us that God (the Father) will welcome anyone of us back to his household if we come to terms with what we do and our human condition (sinner). We acknowledge then how we have wasted His blessings in our lives. How have we done that? Greed: when we are greedy, we overlook God's blessings. We say to God that what He has given us is not good enough. We want more. The desire to have more has been the foundation of many destructive temptations. Greed disregards the needs of others. Pride: we can destroy many human relationships because of pride. Our pride tends to divide people and undermine what is beautiful in what we have with one another. It is the cancer that eats away intimacy and compassion. Pride is the reflection of our insecurity som...

One of the questions I ask candidates during job interviews is to name significant people in their lives and tell me why. The reason behind that question is to determine whether these candidates have mentors in their lives and what they have earned from mentoring relationships. Paul and Timothy had that kind of relationship according to what we learn in the Bible. Timothy was Paul's son in the faith, co-worker, and messenger of the Gospel. Let us look at three aspects of their relationship according to STACY E. HOEHL in Journal of Biblical Perspective in Leadership. Let us look at  2 Timothy 1: 1-14 as the context. It is an equipping relationship: There was an understanding of how God had been with Timothy in his relationship with his mother, grandmother, and Paul. These relationships revealed who God is in Timothy's life. They played a crucial role in the equipping process for Timothy. Who are the young people that we have chosen to mentor in our lives? Are we will...

  I got this picture from a friend last week after our conversation about growing fruits on other people's trees. It was about how we invest our lives in other people's lives. We came to the conclusion that our perception of success is not the same as what others might have expected. So what is the guidance that we have learned to rely on as we go about growing fruits on other people's trees? Isaiah 58:11: " The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring." We need to pray constantly for the pathway of life. It is not that hard to take a wrong turn and find ourselves in deep trouble. We also need to be aware that it has no shortcut. It can be full of challenges and painful lessons.  We need to be aware of the dryness of our souls. It is a common experience for many people in my line of work. Things might appear to go very well externa...

Ten Catholic churches were vandalized yesterday in my city by protesters who are angry about the lack of church responses concerning the deaths of children during the Residential School period. As much as I can understand the anger, I am not sure yesterday's action brings anyone closer together for a meaningful conversation. We cannot go about seeking healing by destroying others. I agree that the Catholic Church leadership needs to make a statement concerning the discovery of these deaths. The silence from the church communicates an uncaring and prideful response.  James 5: 16  gives some helpful direction about what to do when we sin against one another: "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." Many First Nations kids have become foster kids. Some of them may die from suicide, homicide, and infectious diseases. Some of these children have one parent who went...

  Sometimes I wonder how long we have to apologize for the mistakes that we didn't commit personally. How much more do we have to pay for the very same mistakes? Somehow we are going through a time when some people manipulate us to feel ashamed of something we didn't do. I struggle with these thoughts because I don't want to be unkind. However, what is wrong with working to take care of our own needs when we can. What is wrong with trying to grow and improve ourselves with time as things continue to change? Culture and Heritage are not static realities. They are a continuum between growing with others and developing oneself. By the way, our cultures and our heritages are not free from human brokenness. We need to be careful about knowing the differences between treasuring something and worshiping it. We can be reflective about different aspects of the history of our nation. We can discuss and reason with one another about the good, the bad, and the ugly of that ...