Center for Action and Contemplation. Picture by Gail Doughty
The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Wednesday of the Thirty-second Week in Extraordinary Time
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying,
“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
And when he saw them, he said,
“Go show yourselves to the priests.”
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
“Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”
Then he said to him, “Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you.” Emphasis mine Luke 17:11-19
It is interesting how the Holy Spirit works in our life.
I was meeting an old friend and trying to start this blog before we met by reading the readings to figure out what we could write about.
Well, I read the 11/16/23 readings by mistake and left my desk thinking this would be a slog.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered I had read the wrong day’s readings, and today’s readings had all kinds of topics we could discuss.
For too long in my, yes, my life, I was one of the nine who didn’t return to thank God for healings or other ways God has been and is active in our life.
I realized that by not thanking God, I lost Joy in knowing I was loved and God had and will take care of me.
It’s the, will take care of me, we would like to talk about today.
We have talked about a person in California who has been in pain for a long time.
We told her to “Thank God for the Difficulty and keep saying this prayer until she smiled” and know that God would take care of her.
Well, she tried this, and the pain was reduced.
But,
She also said, a few weeks later, “I have concluded that I would have to spend my whole life in pain.”
We told her that was a satan statement and instead put her trust in God to take care of her.
I have had a long Fall season playing golf.
Golf?
What does this have to do with what we were talking about, the person in pain?
I decided, yes I, that I would just have to accept that my, yes, my golf game, similar to her pain, was going to get worse as I aged.
Two weeks later, I recognized my sin and thanked God for the Difficulty of the lousy Golf games, and yes, I knew God would take care of me.
Boo Hoo, Boo Hoo. With this thought, I am rich in self-pity, satan!
The Holy Spirit whispered, “Just hit the ball.”
No more reminding yourself of every step you’re supposed to do when hitting the ball multiple times before you hit the ball, which I had been doing for the past seventeen years.
Last week, we hit 49, 49, 47, and 47, AND we hit some of the longest drives we have EVER shot.
Weeeeeeee played the best golf Weeeee have played all fall!
I started thanking God instantly and said I was sorry for my sin of not believing God would take care of me in every aspect of my, now again, our life.
We are telling this story because if God would solve my Golf difficulty, how much more is God ready to take care of your health or any other Difficulities you may have?
Also,
I, just like you, get sucked in by satan, and when I finally wake up, I throw satan out and scamper back to God.
I wish it weren’t so, but sadly it is.
Recognizing God as active in your life defeats being one of the nine who didn’t remember God as active in their lives and gives praise for all God is doing for you.
We suggest three relationship-building prayers this quarter if you want to join and grow in Team Jesus.
- Weeeeeeeee, say this prayer every time you and God interact. For example, weeeeeee made a great meal, Weeeee played a good game of …, Weeeee didn’t handle this very well, etc.
- Thank you, Father; say this all day, every day, for all the Father is doing in your life. If something really good happens, say this multiple times with enthusiasm. When I was told my Basal Cell had disappeared, I said the Thank You prayer at least fifty times as I walked out of the doctor’s office.
- I’m Fantastic; anytime anyone asks how you are, tell them you are Fantastic. I believe you are who you say you are. You have every reason to be Fantastic and no reason not to be. If you can’t think of a reason to be Fantastic, thank God for the difficulty, and God will provide you with the reasons.
Sidebar:
Cumberland County Jail:
In the November first blog, we reported an inmate I met in 2020 who violated his parole, prayed the “Nine” every day since he was released, and was back in Jail for three months. When we came in today, we were told he had been released.
Prayer answered!
Last Thursday, I met a man who has known me since 1996, the first time I went into the jail, and I told him this would be the last time.
Eric!
Eric changed my life when he told me he was thrown out of his house after his mother died by his father, and Eric looked at me and asked, “Where were you?”
I explained to the men at last week’s meeting; at that very moment, Eric pointed at me and said, “Where were you?” the Holy Spirit revealed to me what a hypocrite I was, and I knew I would be back in the jail for the rest of my life, which is now a Joy filled twenty-seven years.
In the back of the room, there was a man who was angry at one guard, and I knew the Holy Spirit and I were going after him, which at first scared me because I didn’t know how angry he was, and I, satan, wasn’t sure how he would react to our going after him.
We asked him to identify why he was angry and then demanded he thank God for the difficulty. After he said this prayer three times, he smiled.
“Smiled!”
“Two minutes ago, you were mad as H%#@ at the guard, and now you’re smiling.
Make up your mind.”
“Your smile tells me you have let back the Holy Spirit into your life.”
Next, we pointed out how Eric had changed my life instantly, and he had a choice:
Change
Or
Keep coming back to jail.
We are being brief as to all that was said, but the important thing was at the end of the meeting, he asked for a copy of the prayers we have told all of you about. His demeanor had changed, and he was a different person.
How about you?
Are you willing to change and become Fantastic?
We want to include, from time to time, a refrigerator quote from C. S. Lewis in our blogs, and the source we are using is:
NSRV The C.S. Lewis Bible: For Reading, Reflection, and Inspiration:
We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.
The above statement is very true in my, yes, my life. After we made the change, a few days, weeks later, I was filled with Joy and was sad I hadn’t made the change sooner.
Picture:
Attached is a picture from last week in New Mexico. We went to the Balloon Fiesta. We had a fantastic time. We visited the Center for Action and Contemplation. Another beautiful place to Thank Jesus. Picture by Gail Doughty
Fr. Richard Rohr runs The Center for Action and Contemplation, and as you may know, because we have quoted Fr. Rohr in our blogs, I read his blog daily because I have found he has a different take on being a Christian. meditations@cac.org. This link will get you to his website. The daily blogs are free.
Please keep Snapping!
Several people from foreign countries have asked for my email address, but I am still waiting to hear back. We decided to include my email for your convenience.
If you want a copy of the prayers we discussed, email me.
fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, no people, please, because we have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.
By sending your picture, you consent to allow us to reprint that picture in our next book, God Thoughts 2023, with your name and any comments in the Blog.
