Maroon Bells in Aspen, Colorado Picture by Kathy Sheehan
The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Extraordinary Time
Brothers and sisters:
Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, You shall not commit adultery;
you shall not kill;
you shall not steal;
you shall not covet,
and whatever other commandment there may be,
are summed up in this saying, namely,
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Love does no evil to the neighbor;
hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.
Emphasis mine Romans 13: 8-19
See how easy being a Christian is.
All we have to do is Love one another.
That’s it!
Love one another.
Then we let satan into our lives, and the simple life becomes complicated.
How about the person who is ………….. (fill in the dotted area) or has done ……………… (once again fill in the dotted area.)
Yes, we have, should want, to love them also.
Why?
Anything else but love lets in satan and takes away from your Love, Joy, and Peace.
Living in “The Spirit World.”
In Maine last week, eighteen people were shot and killed, many of whom were deaf.
We are in no way defending the actions of the shooter or trying to figure out why he shot these people, except for the fact that he listened to satan.
On October 2, 2006, five Amish girls were shot and killed. We included the article about the response by the Amish community to the shooting in our soon, I Pray book, A Lion Dead to the Lord, Revised Edition. I pray you will carefully read the article,
On October 2, 2006, a shooting occurred at the West Nickel Mines School, an Amish one-room schoolhouse in the Old Order Amish community of Nickel Mines, a village in Bart Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Gunman Charles Carl Roberts IV took hostages and shot eight out of ten girls (aged 6–13), killing five, before committing suicide in the schoolhouse. The emphasis on forgiveness and reconciliation in the Amish community’s response was widely discussed in the national media.
Amish community response
On the day of the shooting, a grandfather of one of the murdered Amish girls was heard warning some young relatives not to hate the killer, saying, “We must not think evil of this man.” Another Amish father noted, “He had a mother and a wife and a soul and now he’s standing before a just God.” Jack Meyer, a member of the Brethren community living near the Amish in Lancaster County, explained: “I don’t think there’s anybody here that wants to do anything but forgive and not only reach out to those who have suffered a loss in that way but to reach out to the family of the man who committed these acts.”
A Roberts family spokesman said an Amish neighbor comforted the Roberts family hours after the shooting and extended forgiveness to them. Amish community members visited and comforted Roberts’ widow, parents, and parents-in-law. One Amish man held Roberts’ sobbing father in his arms, reportedly for as long as an hour, to comfort him. The Amish have also set up a charitable fund for the family of the shooter. About 30 members of the Amish community attended Roberts’ funeral, and Marie Roberts, the widow of the killer, was one of the few outsiders invited to the funeral of one of the victims.
Marie Roberts wrote an open letter to her Amish neighbors thanking them for their forgiveness, grace, and mercy. She wrote, “Your love for our family has helped to provide the healing we so desperately need. Gifts you’ve given have touched our hearts in a way no words can describe. Your compassion has reached beyond our family, beyond our community, and is changing our world, and for this we sincerely thank you.” The Amish do not normally accept charity, but because of the extreme nature of the tragedy, donations were accepted. Richie Lauer, director of the Anabaptist Foundation, said the Amish community, whose religious beliefs prohibit them from having health insurance, will likely use the donations to help pay the medical costs of the hospitalized children.
Some commentators criticized the quick and complete forgiveness with which the Amish responded, arguing that forgiveness is inappropriate when no remorse has been expressed and that such an attitude runs the risk of denying the existence of evil, while others were supportive. Donald Kraybill and two other scholars of Amish life noted that “letting go of grudges” is a deeply rooted value in Amish culture, which remembers forgiving martyrs including Dirk Willems and Jesus himself. They explained that the Amish willingness to forgo vengeance does not undo the tragedy or pardon the wrong, but rather constitutes a first step toward a future that is more hopeful. Emphasis mine Wikipedia – West Nickel Mine Shooting.
Bold non-Italic is the thinking of satan!
I was, and still am, brought to my knees when I read and reread this article, for the portion in red speaks volumes about my lack of Love for my neighbor. I have sadly reacted like the commentators we put in red print.
By reacting as the commentators, we are NOT a reflection of Jesus on The Cross.
I pray I have changed; time will tell.
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:
It’s always amazing to me how God works in my life.
As reported above, we had an awful shooting of eighteen people in Maine. The Holy Spirit reminded me about the Nickel Mine Shooting. Last week, the Holy Spirit and I found a Motivational talk that was considered the most inspiring Motivational talk of 2017 that links into today’s reading and the events in Maine beautifully.
YouTube: The Speech That Brought This Entire School To Tears (The Most Inspiring Motivational Video of 2017) (Copy / Paste or type the entire blue area onto the YouTube search bar) If you have any teens or grandchildren, you may want to share this talk with them.
The person giving the talk resembled many men I have had the pleasure of meeting in the jail. Once you get to know them, it’s easy to love them, AND once they are presented with a different lifestyle, many of the men I met want to change.
The lesson to be learned is that the person I meet today may be very different from the person I could meet tomorrow.
I spent my entire life in sales and was privileged to go to many national sales meetings and listen to top Motivational speakers. We have decided occasionally to present speakers who help spread the message of Love, Joy, and Peace. They may not use the exact words, but the message is the same as ours.
I, yes, I can’t believe how our blog keeps evolving. The Holy Spirit is working in our blog.
Change in the Our Father:
I have been trying since we printed the suggested change by Win on the 10/18/23 blog, do not let us fall into temptation to learn this change, and I now have it down. This change makes sense. It was hard to learn because satan didn’t want me to say this portion of the prayer.
For me, the prayer is now complete: I recognize God the Father as my Father and give Him Praise, I ask to live where He lives, I ask for the substance I need to sustain life, Spiritually and Physically, I ask for forgiveness as I am willing to forgive, I ask not to be tempted, and I ask for protection from all evil.
Think about it: what else would you want?
Thank you, Win; you have made a profound change in my, and I pray in other people’s life.
Picture:
This was taken at the Maroon Bells in Aspen, Colorado, on Oct 14, 2023. The grandeur of God’s creation took my breath away! Picture by Kathy Sheehan
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.
