Healing Rays of Righteousness

Count Your Blessings

Tomorrow we again celebrate Thanksgiving Day.  This is a day for family gatherings to remember and celebrate our many blessings, and to thank God and others for those blessings.  Many families have a Thanksgiving ritual of everybody stating for what they are most thankful before their thanksgiving feast in enjoyed.

For what are you thankful?  I suggest that you take a few moments to read Psalm 103 sometime today or tomorrow and let the words awaken your memory of God’s goodness to you.  In fact, I would suggest that we make the next several weeks a season of Thanksgiving by reading this Psalm repeatedly leading up to Christmas and New Year’s Day.  And with each reading, let your memories reflect on God’s goodness to you in the year past as you look ahead to the new year of 2020.

At Christmas we gratefully say “Thank you” to those who give us gifts, and I think it just as important to say “Thank you” to God for what he has given us and done for us during the past twelve months.

Maybe the year didn’t go as you had hoped.  Maybe you experienced a very difficult year or at least a less than desirable year.  Even so, I believe, there is much for which we can be and should be thankful.

I’m reminded of the boy in elementary school who arrived late to school and was reprimanded for it.  Later, he discovered that he had forgotten his homework, and was scolded again.  Then he began to feel sick, and ran in from the playground to go home.  And as he ran, he tripped and fell, breaking his arm.  While he was on the ground, he found a quarter.  Later, going home from the doctor’s office he told his parents, “This is the best day of my life!  I have never found a quarter before.”

Each of us needs to cultivate that kind of grateful spirit so that we can remember the good things that happen to us and be more thankful, even when much has gone wrong for us.

Psalm 103 is a psalm of thanksgiving and praise in response to God’s goodness.  It begins with, “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”  The psalmist then remembers and stacks up the many things God is doing and will continuing doing for his soul.  It is interesting to note that the psalmist first lists in verses 3-7 the things God does, and then he lists the things God is, all of them being reasons that God is deserving of our praise.

As we come to the ending of this year and face the known and unknown challenges of the next year, I would encourage us to find some quiet, alone time, to open our physical and spiritual eyes and look around us and within us to discover the many things for which we should be thanking and praising God.

I think the song writer, Johnson Oatman, Jr., captures the imperative of Psalm 103 in his hymn, “Count Your Blessings.” He wrote this hymn in response to Apostle Paul’s declaration in Ephesians 1:3-12, regarding God’s goodness to us.  This is another portrait of God’s goodness that would be good to read during this season of Thanksgiving.

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,  Count your many blessings – name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

When you look at others with their lands and gold, Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold; Count your many blessings; money cannot buy, Your reward in heaven nor your home on high.

So amid the conflict, whether great or small, Do not be discouraged; God is over all.  Count your many blessings; angels will attend, Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

“Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.”  (Psalm 103:1-2, NLT).  AMEN!

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 27, 2019

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Coping With Grief through the Holidays

The annual holiday season of Thanksgiving and Christmas traditionally begins next weekend.  It is the season to be jolly.  But how can I be jolly when I’m heart-broken and grieving the death of a person I dearly loved.  How can I cope and get through this holiday season?   

If you are in this situation and thinking these thoughts, I offer the following counsel from my own experience that may help you not only to cope but also to experience some good moments of healing.

The death of a loved one does dramatically and painfully change your life and world.  And the holiday celebrations, especially Christmas, seem to maximize the torturous pain of lost and loneliness that you feel.

Added to the hurt and difficulty to cope, is the pain of what others expect from you.  Friends, and sometimes your own children or siblings, who don’t fully understand grief or don’t want to deal with its pain, strongly urge you to participate in family and church traditions as you always have done in previous years.  For them, any change from your former activities during the holidays is threatening and uncomfortable, and they wish for you to act as if nothing has changed.

In response, you may be tempted to choose between ignoring the pain and do as others wish you to do, or to ignore the holiday altogether and withdraw into your own little world.  However, neither of these ways is a healthy and appropriate response, nor are they helpful in your grief coping and healing possibilities.

There is no way to ease the pain, but there are ways to cope with the reality of great loss and pain.  First, allow yourself to feel what you feel, because only what you permit yourself to feel can heal.  Acknowledge your sadness and allow yourself to cry, yes, even in public or in church, but don’t wallow in self-pity.  Share memories with those who will listen.  Talk about former holiday experiences and look at pictures that elicit precious memories for you.

Secondly, be realistic about what you need from the holiday season, remembering that you need both grieving time and celebration time during these days.  Be kind to yourself and beware of being pressured by others.  Separate holiday tasks and your feelings, that is, you can choose to address and send Christmas cards but you cannot choose the feelings that such activity will erupt.  And those feelings are okay, so own them.

If you choose a change of scenery, such as a ski trip or cruise for the holidays, remember that your grief emotions will accompany you, and they will also be waiting for you when you return home and familiar surroundings.  Whatever you do, beware of abusing medications, alcohol, or excessive eating to escape the pain.  Most importantly, live one day at a time, seizing whatever richness the day may offer you.

Thirdly, deliberately choose to be active and around people.  This may be difficult but it is important in combating loneliness.  Physically exercise regularly and often because it releases the body’s natural painkillers and gives you a sense of well-being.  Spend time with children, because they can remind you of the wonder and joy of life.  It also awakens hope in you. Many find it helpful to volunteer in helping those less fortunate than you.

And finally, renew and affirm hope in yourself for the future.    Hope is essential in coping with bereavement loss.  Hope is both a future-oriented framework of expectations and a present-oriented framework of possibilities.  Without hope it is almost impossible to mobilize your energy and potential healing of grief.  I know from experience that hope helps you cope.

Most importantly, believe God loves you, will provide for you, and has planned a future for you.  Under His loving grace and care, you will again be able to sing the carols of Christmas.  But in the meantime, listen to their beautiful melodies and message.

It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old,

From angels bending near the earth To touch their harps of gold.

“Peace on the earth, goodwill to men, From heav’n’s all-gracious King.”

The world in solemn stillness lay To hear the angels sing. 

Still thro’ the cloven skies they come, With peaceful wings unfurled,

And still their heav’nly music floats O’er all the weary world.

Above its sad and lowly plains They bend on hov’ring wing,

And ever o’er its babel sounds The blessed angels sing.

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, Whose forms are bending low,

Who toil along the climbing way With painful steps and slow,

Look up!  for glad and golden hours Come swiftly on the wing.

O rest beside the weary road And hear the angels sing.

(It Came Upon the Midnight Clear – Text: Edmund H. Sears)

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 20, 2019

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Only One of Ten Is Grateful

As Jesus enters a village on his way to Jerusalem, ten lepers loudly call out from a distance, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” They are desperate for healing, but as unclean people they don’t dare run up to Jesus or come close to him (Luke 17:11-19).

Jesus sees them and hears their plea, and responds with a rather unusual command: “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so, with believing faith in Jesus, they obey his command and make their way to the priests.

While on their way, all ten of them are miraculously healed of their leprosy.  We can only imagine the joy that they must have felt in being healed of their terrible skin disease and now able to again live, work, and play in their home community. It was a new day in their life.

But only one of them, a Samaritan, Jesus calls him a foreigner, turns around and runs back to thank Jesus.  Praising God with a loud voice, he throws himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.

Ten lepers are healed, but only one of them takes the time to count his blessings.  In doing so, he realizes that he had received much more than the miraculous gift of healing in his body, his skin cured of leprosy, enabling him to be accepted back into his family and community.  He also realizes that he received the gracious gift of healing in his soul.  This realization simply overwhelmed him with overflowing gratefulness.

After asking about the other nine, Jesus tells him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”   Ten lepers were healed, but Jesus says only this man was “made well” in both body and soul.  His gratefulness, expressed to Jesus, made him “well.”  Certainly, this reality is of much greater importance than simply being healed in body.

The truth being spoken in these words from Jesus, and affirm in all of scripture, is that unless gratitude is a part of our nature, we can’t be whole “made well” people.  The other nine men were merely physically healed, and if ingratitude is more deadly than leprosy, then they are in worse shape than before their healing.

Ingratitude does not deny us God’s mercies, but it most certainly denies us of a relationship with him.  Jesus did not punish the nine lepers for their ingratitude, but instead, he left them with only his miracle gift and themselves.  Being wrapped up in themselves, they did not seek the larger gift of a relationship with Jesus.

You may ask why did only one of the ten lepers come back to Jesus and express his deep gratitude in praise to God.  We can only speculate a reason.

Could it be that the nine Jewish lepers thought that being God’s special people gave them a privileged right to be healed and thus no gratitude?  Likewise, is it possible that we, who claim to be Christian, feel we have a right in expecting God to bless our life with good things, and thus we express very little, if any, gratitude to God?  Check your praying.  Which is the greater content of your prayer, praise or petition?

Could it be that the nine self-centered lepers were so eager to reunite and reestablish themselves in family and community that taking the time to return to Jesus and express their gratitude was of little importance?  Likewise, is it possible that we, who are so busy doing good things, assume that God already knows we are grateful and doesn’t need to hear our thanks?

If so, are we not like the pagan world as described by Apostle Paul in Romans 1:21 – “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Furthermore, let’s remember that this “made well” leper came back praising God even though he still had some enormous problems facing him.  He had been living as an outcast with no family and no job, and it would not be easy going back into community.  Even so, he saw God’s merciful goodness in his healing, and he is overwhelmed with gratefulness.

Most likely you have a problem facing you right now.  Nobody is problem-free.  Listen to the apostle Paul as he exhorts us to praise God in the midst of problems:

“Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (Eph.5: 19-20).

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  (1 Thess. 5:16-18).

Helen Keller, who was blind, wrote, “I thank God for my handicaps.  Through them I have found myself, my work, and my God.”  Helen Keller was not physically healed of her blindness, but she was “made well” as evidenced by the many praise songs she wrote, and that we enjoy singing today.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 13, 2019

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

With Gratitude or For Granted

It is now November and our thoughts become more focused on Thanksgiving Day and its call to be thankful.  Last week I stated that an attitude of gratitude is of supreme importance in our aging well.

However, I am convinced that an attitude of gratitude is not only important for aging well, but is also vital to our living well.  The apostle Paul admonishes us to “Rejoice always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

It has been correctly said that most people fall into two classes; those who take things for granted and those who take things with gratitude.

I think you would agree that whenever we sit down to a table to eat a meal, we have two options about the way we partake of what is put before us, and the choice we make says a lot about our attitude toward life in general.

We can approach the meal with a negative spirit, wishing we were at a different table, critical of the way the food is cooked, unhappy about what we are being served.  Or we can sit down with gratitude and appreciation that a meal has been provided for us and choose to enjoy whatever has been set before us.

I believe we have the same two options when we sit down at the table of life.  We humans are never free to determine what life will be set before us, but we are free to decide how we will partake of it, whether with resentment or with gratitude.

We can either partake resentfully and bitterly of the events set before us, or we can respond with a positive attitude and gratefully accept whatever is set before us.  And the way we choose to receive all of life events, whether they be refreshing or difficult, big or small, makes a vast difference in the way we experience or do not experience God’s presence and blessings.

It is a grateful spirit and thankful heart that discovers blessings in what most others take for granted.  Richard P. Johnson, PhD, a speaker and writer regarding ministry to senior adults, writes “When we take things for granted, we dismiss them as ordinary because we see them as so commonplace that we fail to notice them at all.  When we take things for granted, we transform miracles into nothingness, and, in so doing, we erase virtue from our lives.  When we are presumptuous, we lack hope, and when we lack hope, we move into despair.                                                                                                                                                                                    So many persons suffering from sickness move into despair.  They have taken their good health for granted.  When sickness strikes, they rail against the forces and causes of it, wring their hands, and shake their fists at God for allowing such a terrible thing to befall them.  Yet, what response do they make in thanksgiving for the many years they have enjoyed in good health?”

I read about one psychiatrist who prescribes a simple six-week cure to any person who is depressed.  He instructs his patients to say “Thank you” whenever anyone does them a favor of any kind, and they are to emphasize the words with a smile.  The doctor reports that the common reply is, “But, doctor, no one ever does any favors for me.”  And the doctor responds, “That’s why you are sick.  You don’t look for reasons to be thankful.”

The doctor further reports that two results flow from his treatment, 1) the patient becomes less discouraged, and 2) persons who associate with the patient become more active in their affirming words and good deeds toward the patient.

Why would we ever expect a different result?  A basic principle of life is that whenever thanks is given to another, it has a boomerang effect of returned appreciation and favor.

On the tombstone of her husband’s grave, a southern mountain woman had chiseled in rough and uneven letters this epitaph, “He always appreciated.”  I really hope that such a tribute can be said about me and you after our deaths.

During this Thanksgiving season and in every season of the year, let’s join the Psalmist in reminding ourselves to “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” (Psalm 103:2).

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 6, 2019

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley