Back to Grey

After a few days of glorious sun the sky has turned back to grey again and the clouds are watering the earth. This change in the weather seems fitting as so many in my life are struggling right now. Illness seems to be touching so many right now that I am afraid to pick up the phone or read my latest emails.

Today a good friend's mother is in surgery to have a brain tumor removed. My grandmother was given the diagnoses of breast cancer one week ago. Another friend has a nephew, less than a year old, that has been in and out of the hospital over the last several month with a mysterious illness the doctors can't seem to fix or understand. Another friend's mom is in an assisted living home after MS and other complications have made home care impossible. A coworker traveled home to Michigan to be a support to her friend whose mother was killed over the weekend after being hit by a truck. My boss called this morning from the hospital after her father was taken in this morning (not sure why).

Last night a group of friends gathered to spend sometime praying over many of these things. In the face of so much illness and suffering it is hard to know of anything else to do but pray. We read some scripture before we prayed and one passage in particular weighed heavy on my heart, it was James 5:13-18.

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

Is anyone suffering? Yes. Is anyone cheerful? Probably. Is anyone sick? Too many. So all we can do is pray. And perhaps in the rain that falls there may be some answers, some healing, some peace and some comfort.

Sunshine

Today the sun is shining and the air is warm. These are my kind of days. And in this sun induced bliss I think of the John Denver song "Sunshine On My Shoulders..."

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high

If I had a day that I could give you
Id give to you a day just like today
If I had a song that I could sing for you
Id sing a song to make you feel this way

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high

If I had a tale that I could tell you
Id tell a tale sure to make you smile
If I had a wish that I could wish for you
Id make a wish for sunshine all the while

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high
Sunshine almost all the time makes me high
Sunshine almost always

I hope you too are enjoying the warmth of spring today!!

A Life In Terms of Water

I just filled up my water bottle and I am enjoying the refreshment of this cool drink.

Moments earlier I was washing off my dish from lunch with water from the kitchen sick at work and loaded others in the dishwasher to be cleaned with more water.

My home and work both sit about about 100 yards each from a body of freshwater and I cross a bridge over it 2 times a day to get from one to the other.

In my home I have two sinks, a shower, and a toilet all with a never ending supply of water. Plus access to another community sink and washing machine in the basement, plus a number of water spigots outside the building.

Even my very being, my physical body is made of around 55% water.

In the last 24 hours or so I have been thinking a lot about water. Mostly in response to the new Spilling Hope project launched this Easter Sunday at Bethany Community Church. There are people all over this earth dying all because they do not have access to safe drinking water and here I am with more clean, safe water at my figure tips than I could ever possibly need or want.

So for the next 50 days I will step up the the challenge of the Spilling Hope project. Live Simply. Give generously. Change lives. I will cut out some of the excess in my life and set aside that money to help build wells in Uganda that will bring clean, safe water to thousands. Also I will say a prayer for those that are walking the earth at that moment carrying the heavy burden of a 40 lb. water jug everytime a fill a glass of water, wash my hands, do the laundry, or any other task that uses even a drop of water.

I hope you'll take the time to learn more about the global Water Crisis and consider how you can take action by Spilling Hope.