June 22

I am attaching my last two instalments of reflections that I prepared for Resurrection Lutheran Church.  The first one certainly applies to any time in human history, but especially now when people are living in fear.  You can always fear and worry, but the the worrying will do no good.  Choose love over fear.  The second reflection also applies to what we have been going through lately.  If you read my blog, I hope you are not spending too much time on Fox, NBC, or CNN.  I hope you are taking care of your mind and lowering your stress levels.  I hope you are staying informed, but not obsessing over all the bad news that you are bombarded with in the media and from other sources.  I hope you are learning and growing and feeding your mind with nourishing ideas.

Verse:  I Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Reflection:

I read a quote recently that the term peace of mind is an oxymoron because when we are in our mind, we are seldom at peace.  You may argue with this statistic, but over 90 percent of our thoughts are repetitive, negative, and useless.  Being deep in thought is not always useless especially when we are trying to solve a problem or derive inspiration, but the mind has a way of becoming dysfunctional.  We will lay awake at night ruminating on past regrets and worrying about the future.  When we give energy to negative thoughts, our minds can cause us to fear, worry, pity ourselves, and seek revenge.  There are times when we have bad thoughts and we believe they are the truth and we believe we are bad people because we have bad thoughts.  The good news is: we are not our thoughts.  The Spirit of God who is planted in us is always there and always accessible.  The Spirit gives us the power to observe our thoughts and determine whether the thoughts are God’s thoughts.  Everyday and all day, we should hold our thoughts up to the light of God.  If the thoughts cause  undue fear, uncontrollable hate, and depression, they are probably not God’s thoughts.

Verse: Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Reflection:  There was a time when I viewed my relationship with God as a transaction.  I do this for God.  God does this for me.  In this transactional relationship, I followed laws, recited creeds, and concerned myself with being right and believing the right things.   I have seen people that view christianity as a transaction, but who haven’t been transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.  They perform rituals and enforce laws while ignoring the plight of the poor, the sick, the lame, the homeless, the oppressed, and all those who Jesus helped during his earthly ministry.  They exclude and deny love to others thinking all the while they are doing the will of God.  In today’s bible passage, Paul exhorted followers of Christ to be transformed by the renewing of their minds.  A transformed person will prove by the way they live their life what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.  What is the will of God?  “To be just, and to love [and to diligently practice] kindness (compassion), And to walk humbly with your God [setting aside any overblown sense of importance or self-righteousness].”(Micah 6:8 AMP).

June 19

Today marks the end of a busy week.  Last Friday, I traveled to Regina.  I had not been together with Deb since March 15 when the lockdown began.  We had great plans of golfing and kayaking, but the 60-80 km winds prevented those plans.  We settled for long walks in White City along the older streets in town that have massive trees providing much needed shelter.  Thankfully, Regina finally received some rainfall on Sunday.  I returned home on Monday in time to do my haying.  The yard is looking great after all the rainfall we have been receiving. On Monday night, I got to see my Luv Bug for the usual ritual of playing, bathing, snuggles, singing lullabies, and bedtime stories.  On Tuesday, I traveled to Tisdale to see my mom.  I had made arrangements with Mom's dear friend of 70+ years, Jenny Fritshaw, to meet for lunch.  Both ladies had been cooped up too much over the last three months so they were missing one another badly.  Jenny is also 92 and still living on the family farm north of Tisdale.  Our family has been friends with the Fritshaws for many years.  Visiting Jenny and sitting at the same table where I enjoyed many delicious meals and good conversation since I was knee high to a grasshopper is always a wonderful experience.  Jenny let me help serve the meal and do a bit to the clean up, then I went for a long walk while the two old friends had a visit.  Jenny has a pet squirrel who visits her in her garden.  The squirrel will crawl on top of your head if he thinks there is a peanut to be had.  I declined the opportunity to have the squirrel use my head as a dining room table.  After Tisdale, I drove to Lesley Beach on the south side of Fishing Lake near Foam Lake.  My brother, Vince, and his wife, Loretta, were camping there for the week with another couple.  I took my guitar and song books so we had a sing song until the rain pouring off the tarps soaked my song book and dripped down the neck of my guitar.  We had a great time and had lots of laughs.  My Aunt Shirley and Uncle Gerry were also at the sing song/barbecue.  I left Lesley Beach after 9 pm and traveled to a farm south of Kelvington where I stayed the night with Lorne and Dianne Rennie.  They let me stay in their camper that was situated in their farm yard.  I had a great visit with the Rennies catching up on Kelvington news and people.  Lorne and Dianne live just three miles south of the farm where I grew up.  After leaving the Rennies on Wednesday morning, I stopped by the farm where I lived from the time I was a baby until I was five years old.  Approaching the yard, I came upon a cow moose munching on caragana twigs.  I took pictures of the old buildings and took a piece of the old barn.  Evidently, I took more than a piece of barn.  When I got into Kelvington, I brushed a wood tick off my ear.  Then I brushed another dozen ticks off my arms and legs and head.  I visited old friends who allowed me to use their washroom to do a complete body scan.  I bagged the clothes I was wearing and put on a change of clothes that I had fortunately brought along.  Before leaving Kelvington, I bought some tick repellent and sprayed my whole body.  Driving back to Saskatoon, I combed two more ticks out of my hair.  Sheesh!  The first order of business upon returning home was to wash all my clothes and dry them on the hot cycle.  In other news, I have almost 700 kilometres on my E Bike.  In the absence of playing slow pitch this spring, I have certainly been getting my exercise biking.  There is a rumour that slow pitch may be starting in July.  Tomorrow, Mary and Luv Bug are going to the lake with me.  I will be spending the next two days with my girls for Father's Day.  I've already made rhubarb crisp for tomorrow night.  Until next time, Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there.