Good Morning

 

A crisis will capture your attention. But the response to a crisis can differ greatly from person to person. Some people become bitter and are hardened due to the devastation that a crisis will bring. Some quietly endure but learn nothing from the experience. They have just gone through it, they were the victim. A few however find their lives are purified, deepened and strengthened by the devastation. Thinking about the most tragic things that have ever happened to me personally, I find that I have been through each of these stages at one time or another. Yesterday, my daughter picked me up from school, so of course she wanted to get some Harold's while she was in Hyde Park. A woman with two girls maybe 6 and 8 came to the car begging. I was in the store paying for her food because she didn't have any money so when I came out, she told me about the woman and how she was homeless and she felt sorry for them and how they looked like a good family just had some hard times. We know that the largest group of homelessness are women and children. We drove around so I could give them some money. Then we prayed for them and thanked God that we weren't homeless, on the street. I thought about how horrible that must be, the inner turmoil of having to provide daily. The children didn't seem too bad but there was some wear and tear on them and the mother. I just know that this experience will be a very tragic and memorable time for them. I know I complain about my miserable life and the crap that I have to attend to as if its important in the whole scheme of the universe but when your safety and security are challenged, when you don't know where you will sleep and where your next meal will come from. As a teacher I might have that student in my class and may not even know they are dealing with homelessness. We don't know all of the things that our students deal with. Some are the caregivers for older relatives. They take care of the younger siblings and some take care of the home in general. Maybe they are trying to just stave of the next steps to their homeless situation. I feel my inner life is in crisis and I pray that I will be shown how to repent.

Back to the grind stone. Put things in perspective. A true crisis is not whether every student has a science fair project. Be blessed and be a blessing to someone.

Joel 1 Get in Touch with Reality—and Weep!

 1-3 God's Message to Joel son of Pethuel:

    Attention, elder statesmen! Listen closely,
   everyone, whoever and wherever you are!
Have you ever heard of anything like this?
   Has anything like this ever happened before—ever?
Make sure you tell your children,
   and your children tell their children,
And their children their children.
   Don't let this message die out.

 4What the chewing locust left,
   the gobbling locust ate;
What the gobbling locust left,
   the munching locust ate;
What the munching locust left,
   the chomping locust ate.

 5-7Sober up, you drunks!
   Get in touch with reality—and weep!
Your supply of booze is cut off.
   You're on the wagon, like it or not.
My country's being invaded
   by an army invincible, past numbering,
Teeth like those of a lion,
   fangs like those of a tiger.
It has ruined my vineyards,
   stripped my orchards,
And clear-cut the country.
   The landscape's a moonscape.

 8-10Weep like a young virgin dressed in black,
   mourning the loss of her fiancé.
Without grain and grapes,
   worship has been brought to a standstill
   in the Sanctuary of God.
The priests are at a loss.
   God's ministers don't know what to do.
The fields are sterile.
   The very ground grieves.
The wheat fields are lifeless,
   vineyards dried up, olive oil gone.

 11-12Dirt farmers, despair!
   Grape growers, wring your hands!
Lament the loss of wheat and barley.
   All crops have failed.
Vineyards dried up,
   fig trees withered,
Pomegranates, date palms, and apple trees—
   deadwood everywhere!
And joy is dried up and withered
   in the hearts of the people. Nothing's Going On in the Place of Worship

 13-14 And also you priests,
   put on your robes and join the outcry.
You who lead people in worship,
   lead them in lament.
Spend the night dressed in gunnysacks,
   you servants of my God.
Nothing's going on in the place of worship,
   no offerings, no prayers—nothing.
Declare a holy fast, call a special meeting,
   get the leaders together,
Round up everyone in the country.
   Get them into God's Sanctuary for serious prayer to God.

 15-18What a day! Doomsday!
   God's Judgment Day has come.
The Strong God has arrived.
   This is serious business!
Food is just a memory at our tables,
   as are joy and singing from God's Sanctuary.
The seeds in the field are dead,
   barns deserted,
Grain silos abandoned.
   Who needs them? The crops have failed!
The farm animals groan—oh, how they groan!
   The cattle mill around.
There's nothing for them to eat.
   Not even the sheep find anything.

 19-20God! I pray, I cry out to you!
   The fields are burning up,
The country is a dust bowl,
   forest and prairie fires rage unchecked.
Wild animals, dying of thirst,
   look to you for a drink.
Springs and streams are dried up.
   The whole country is burning up.