Healing Rays of Righteousness

Sheep or Cowboys

I have been told that every culture has its own mythical image of itself, usually drawn from some romantic past.  Thus, the British think of themselves as the noble Knight-philosophers of the Round Table, the Scandinavians as the Vikings, and the Americans as the free-spirited Cowboys.

In all of world history, biblical Israel is the only nation that identified themselves as Sheep. By doing so, they were proclaiming their dependence on a “good shepherd” – a leader who could protect them from the dangers swirling around them. And so, King David writes, “The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. … Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4).

The gospel writer, John, records Jesus asserting that he is the “good shepherd” because he is willing to lay down his life for the sheep. In other words, the shepherd’s commitment to the sheep is total and without any reservations, whereas a hired hand only cares about himself and runs when the wolf comes.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.”  (John 10:11-12).

As we carefully study these verses, we discover that it is the shepherd’s job to take care of the wolf. The wolf is not the sheep’s problem but the shepherd’s concern. The sheep’s primary problem and effort is to stay near the shepherd, always in the shadow of the shepherd’s protection.

But therein lies the problem for many of us Americans. We “cowboys” do not like to think of ourselves as being dependent on anyone or anything outside ourselves for protection. We “cowboys” can take care of ourselves, or so we think.

When evil and temptations come knocking on our door, it is not our nature to let a “protector shepherd” answer it for us. Even though Jesus, who wants to be our “good shepherd” is standing nearby, our do-it-myself” attitude prompts us to deal with the devil in our own way and strength.

Invariably, when we do attempt such response, we get seriously hurt, if not totally destroyed. We are no match for a wolf. We are sheep, not cowboys. We need a “good shepherd” who will lay down his life for us. Let us stay close to his protecting, providing presence!

The following prayer-hymn reminds me that I am not a “cowboy” but a “sheep” in need of a shepherd.

               Gen-tle Shep-herd, come and lead us, for we need you to help us find our way.

               Gen-tle Shep-herd, come and feed us, for we need your strength from day to day.

               There’s no oth-er we can turn to who can help us face an-oth-er day.

               Gen-tle Shep-herd, come and lead us, for we need you to help us find our way.

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – February 8, 2023

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Enjoying Peace or Going to Pieces

Being busy is in many ways a blessing. But too much of a good thing often causes life to become pressured and stressful. So how can we learn to live relaxed and enjoy living at full speed? We may need to slow our pace or increase our pauses, but more importantly we need to discipline ourselves to keep in step with Jesus, not racing ahead or dragging behind. This skill is not automatic, we must intentionally practice being relaxed while sitting, walking, or running with Jesus.

I agree with Chuck Swindoll when he said that “A relaxed, easy-going Christian is far more attractive and effective than the rigid, uptight brother (or sister) who squeaks when he walks and whines when he talks.”

How can I live relaxed when so many expectations and demands swirl around me?  I suggest the first step is to regain and strengthen our confidence and trust in God presence and purpose. This comes through frequent conversation (prayers) with Him.

Roy Lawrence writes that “The essence of prayer is simply affirming God’s will, rejoicing in God’s will, and relaxing into God’s will.” I think this is one of the best definition of praying that I have found most helpful in my own praying.

Do I hear you saying that often you are too busy to pray? I suggest that it is in the “being too busy” times that we most need to pray. I have learned that no matter how busy I may be there is always time for the “arrow prayer” – a few words of praise or petition shot like an arrow into the heart of any situation, need, or uncertainty when and wherever it occurs. 

I read that Bishop George Sinker developed the habit of praying every time he went through a doorway, “Lord, come with me through this door.”  This is why it is not surprising to hear it said that he brought a sense of God’s presence with him when he entered a room.

We have many moments throughout every day that could be used as prayer moments for both self and for others. Such “in the moment” praying will teach us how to be both busy and relaxed; how to be in flesh the God of peace among a people going to pieces.

Remember Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” God’s love for us and His desire to be in relationship with us is so awesome that it is truly amazing that it is being offered us.  Why then are we so reluctant to come to Him in any busy or stress-filled moment and enjoy the rest and peace He offers us?

John Greenleaf Whittier wrote a beautiful prayer-hymn that I find helpful as my own prayer.

     Dear Lord and Father of mankind, Forgive our foolish ways!  Reclothe us in our rightful minds;

               In purer lives Thy service find;  In deeper reverence, praise.

     Drop Thy still dews of quietness  Till all our strivings cease. Take from our souls the strain and stress 

            And let our ordered lives confess   The beauty of Thy peace.

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – February 2, 2023

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Chosen by God and Dressed for Success

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3:12-14).

The apostle Paul wrote the above in his letter to the Christian church in Colossae. He sent this letter to remind them of their new identity, now being in Jesus Christ, and to encourage them not to waver in their commitment to Jesus as Lord; and to live in the world fully dressed for success wearing God’s garments of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and love.

Paul’s letter is rich with timeless truths that remain just as relevant for today’s Christian church. I pray you will read and hear Paul’s entire letter as being freshly written to us in this year of 2023.

In chapter 3, verse 12, Paul addresses the Christian church as “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved.”  Whether we like it or not, our identity as God’s chosen people is certain and easily identifiable as both an individual or a church. Easily identifiable because what we do flows out of who we are, and thus, who we are is revealed by what we do. Doing and being cannot be separated!

“Holy” references our character; that is, what moral and ethical standards control our attitudes and actions and shape our reputation. That is why Paul urges us to put to death, get rid of, those attitudes and behaviors that keep us from becoming holy. “Holy” also means “being set apart” and dedicated to God’s mission, our vocation, in the world.

But there is more. Paul addresses us as “holy and dearly loved” people of God. Think of the person or persons who love you the most.  How do they feel and act toward you? Think about the strength you receive from their loving you. There is nothing more important than knowing that you are loved?

And yet, Paul tells us that God’s love is greater than the love we receive from any of these persons. God’s love for us is unconditional, not dependent upon our merit.  God’s love is a constant flow of empowering grace which keeps us steady and strong in our life journey, no matter what happens.

“Therefore, ……. clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” In the preceding verses, Paul describes what devilish attitudes and actions must be taken off and gotten rid of by those who want to be God’s people.

Then Paul lists the Godly virtues that a Christian is to put on in order to be “dressed for success” in Kingdom living. In using the word “success” I am thinking of our efforts to daily live into the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Compassion – I will have a tender heart. I will deeply care about you and do my best to help you. My                                             feelings of pity for your pain and sufferings will motivate me to act in your behalf.

Kindness – I will be kind and generous. I will say and do useful things to improve your well-being.

Humility – I will speak and act with confidence, remembering who I am in relation to God and others.

Gentleness – I will speak softly and kindly, exercising self-control because I am God-controlled.

Patience – I will strive to endure unpleasant situations, unexpected hurts, and unwanted problems,                                         leaning into God’s sustaining presence.

Yes, these virtues also describe Jesus’ life and character while in our world as a human person. Jesus was able to be fully clothed with these virtues because of His complete reliance on the presence and power of His Father’s Spirit being in Him. And this same reliance is needed by us in order to be fully dressed for success in our vocation as a disciple of Jesus.

Paul concludes his clothing list with these added adornments: “Bear with each other” (affirm, value, and respect another) “and forgive one another … as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

“Put on love” – Love is the heart-felt attitude that binds together the various virtues of our character into a single whole. It also binds together the Christian church of various personalities and giftings into one perfect unity.

This unity, this oneness, is the concern and petition of Jesus in His prayer for us. “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. …. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:22-23).

The Christian church to be a grace-filled, grace-equipped, grace-celebrating people, in whom Christ dwells richly and through whom grace flows to those around us. May we sincerely invite God to help us be so. Amen!

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – January 25, 2023

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Jesus Prays for Us

John records the prayer of Jesus prior to His death and resurrection in chapter 17 of his gospel account. In that prayer we hear Jesus praying for you, me, and all who will believe in him. Imagine seeing Jesus present in the room with you and hearing him pray for you. Imagine the comfort and encouragement this would have on your life.

The good news is that Jesus has prayed for us and continues to pray, interceding in our behalf to the Ever-loving, Almighty Father. That truth alone, if believed, will transform any and every threatening and fearful situation of darkness you may be experiencing or ever will.

Jesus begins his prayer by saying that he is not praying for the world. And yet, we know that Jesus came into the world because He so loved the world. For that very reason, Jesus prepares and sends out his disciples into it, with the purpose of making the world aware of God and his love and inviting the world into a love relationship with God.

Jesus’ great concern is that his disciples be faithful to their task and successful in their witness. And Jesus prays that His disciples be equipped, protected, united as one, and made holy for their special mission in this world that God so loves.

It is important to hear and understand that Jesus never prayed that His disciples should be taken out of this world. He never prayed that they be given escape from this world. Instead, He prayed that they experience victory in this world and glorify Him. (vv. 11,15,18).

Christianity, being a disciple of Jesus, was never meant to be a means of withdrawing from life in this world, but rather a means of equipping for a better life in it. Christianity, being a disciple of Jesus, does not offer us a freedom from problems, but a God-blessed way to resolve them.

Being one of his disciples, I find it encouraging to be frequently reminded of the three things Jesus prayed would be given to His disciples:

Firstly, Jesus prayed that God would protect his disciples from the evil one. (v.11,15).

The Bible describes the world, the place wherein Jesus’ disciples live, as a scary, threatening place, an alien environment. And Jesus asks his father to protect His disciples with a special protective shelter.

As a disciples of Jesus, it is immensely encouraging to know that the Almighty God stands as guard over our lives, protecting us and limiting the assaults of evil against us.

I wonder, could it be that because we try to meet life’s difficulties and threats in our own wisdom and strength, rather than remembering that our omnipotent God is present to protect us, explain our many falls, failures, and defeats in life?

Secondly, Jesus prayed for unity among His disciples, that they be united as one. (vv.11,20-23).

Probably the greatest threat from this world toward this unity that Jesus prayed for us, is its ability to breed divisiveness among people. The world naturally divides, separates, isolates, forms cliques and closed communities, because its father, the devil, is the father of divisiveness.

Wherever there are divisions, exclusiveness, and competition between Christians, the cause of Christ is harmed. For that reason, Jesus prayed that his disciples might be as fully one as He and the Father are one – “so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”  (v.21).

Yes, Jesus knows this unity, this bond of love, would be the one crucial ingredient toward evangelizing the world. And yet, sadly, there is no prayer of Jesus which has been so ignored by the Christian community as this prayer.

Thirdly, Jesus prayed that his disciples be sanctified, made holy, by the truth. (v.17-19).

Jesus sends His disciples into the world in the same manner He was sent by the Father into it. His mission will now become the disciples’ mission. And so, Jesus prays that they be consecrated (set apart, made holy) for their special sacred task.

Being the disciples of Jesus, and being sent to serve a holy God, means that we must also be holy. “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”

(1 Peter 1:15-16). And so, our gracious God, fits and cloths us for our task of witnessing to His saving mission in the world, as we place our life in His hands and submit to His will.

Jesus makes it clear that the Christian is “not of the world” (v.16), and He makes it equally true that it is within the world that the Christian is to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ. We are in this world in the place of Jesus. Our mission is identified with Jesus’ mission. Our work is Jesus’ work. Our objective is Jesus’ objective. And our life is linked with Jesus’ life. For that reason, Jesus prays for us.

Thank you, Jesus!

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            “Healing Rays of Righteousness” – January 18, 2023

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Jesus, the Light of Life

Today is Epiphany, which occurs on the church calendar annually on the sixth day of January. Epiphany is the designated day for the Christian community to celebrate the birth of Jesus as the coming of God’s glory and light into the world; and like the morning dawn, driving away the darkness of sin, loneliness, and despair.

Epiphany should be celebrated as a glorious day of worship in which to thank and praise God for His gift of redeeming grace and glorious light to a people and a world wrapped in the darkness of sin as described by Isaiah. “See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.” (Isaiah 60:2).        

Throughout the scriptures, God’s glory is likened to the light of the sun. The glory of God is beyond human comprehension. Light, brighter than the light of the sun, is as close as we can come to describing the shining glory of God’s redeeming presence.

In John’s vision of Jesus, recorded in Revelation 1:13-16, he describes the glory of Jesus – “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”

The analogy of light, as representative of the glory of God, links us to what the apostle John says about Jesus Christ – “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” (Jn.1:4-5).

In the same Gospel account, Jesus declares himself to be light – “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  (John 8:12).

When Isaiah invites us to walk in the light of the Lord, and the apostle Paul challenges us to cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, the imagery is sharply vivid. Without the presence of God in our life, there is nothing but darkness and death. Jesus brought God’s light and life into the world and only as we open our lives to his Lordship do we experience that awesome, transforming, life-giving light.

The first creative word God spoke into being was, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”  Being the Almighty Lord, God can and did light up an entire universe. But there is one little corner of His grand creation that even with all His infinite power He cannot reach and transform from darkness to light without our help. Do you know or can you guess that corner?

It is the darkness in the human heart. We must first open the door for God’s light to shine in and radiate out from our life. And Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (Rev. 3:20). God will not force His way into our lives.

Many who name themselves “Christian” have only partially opened the door to God’s light and seem to think it is enough to live in the shadows, being neither exposed to the full darkness of worldly evil nor the full light of God’s glory.

Those who adopt such half-hearted faith are neither challenged in life nor satisfied with life. They have just enough “religion” to make them miserable. Biblical wisdom would warn us that such attempts to find satisfaction by living in the shadows, submitting only some of one’s life to the lordship of Jesus, is futile.

God calls us to come out of darkness, out of the shadows of strangled commitment and diminished enthusiasm, to walk in His glorious transforming light of amazing love and joy in fellowship with Him. “I am the light of the world. Whosoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).

I am confident I speak God’s heart when I say to you, “Enter into this new year of 2023 with confident faith, believing Christ’s new world of redeeming light, hope, love, peace, joy and life has dawned upon us and is being brought to complete fulfillment as the glorious eternal Kingdom of Jesus Christ.” 

Let us pray;     O star of wonder, star of night, Star with royal beauty bright,

Westward leading, still proceeding, Guide us to thy perfect light. AMEN!

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – January 6, 2023

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

God Is Down Here Among Us

We often think of God as being “up there” – in heaven. But, in the birth of Jesus, God has come down to us, and now lives among us. We could never reach Him up there, so with amazing love He came down here to be among us, living by His Spirit in us.

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”). (Matthew 1:23). “The Word (Jesus) became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14).

The story is told regarding a once famous monastery which had fallen on hard times. Its many buildings used to be filled with young priests and monks, and its big church resounded with the singing of the chant. But now it was nearly deserted and silent. A handful of monks shuffled through the buildings praying their prayers and praising their God with heavy hearts.

On the edge of the monastery grounds, an old Jewish rabbi had built a little hut in the woods. He would come there from time to time to fast and pray. No one ever spoke with him, but whenever he appeared, the word would be passed from monk to monk, “The Rabbi walks in the woods.”

One day the Abbot, who was the one in charge of the monastery, decided to visit the Rabbi and open his heart to him regarding the bad conditions at the monastery and seek his advice. He walked across the monastery grounds and into the woods to the Rabbi’s hut.

The Rabbi warmly greeted and embraced him and invited him into his little hut. In the middle of the room was a wooden table with the Bible laying open upon it. The two men sat down at the table and said nothing to each other. They just sat there looking at the Bible.

Finally, the Rabbi lifted his eyes and said, “You and your brothers are serving God with heavy hearts. You have come to ask me for a teaching. I will give you this teaching, but you can only repeat it once. After that, no one must ever say it aloud again.”

The Rabbi looked directly at the Abbott and said, “The Messiah is among you.”  For a while there was silence, then the Rabbi said, “Now you must go.”  The Abbott left without saying another word and returned to the monastery.

The next morning the Abbot called all the monks together and told them that he had received a teaching from the Rabbi “who walks in the woods.”  But the teaching could be spoken only once and never again. Then the Abbott looked at each of his fellow monks and said, “The Rabbi told me that the Messiah is among us.”

The monks were startled, and asked themselves, “What does this mean? Is Brother John the messiah, or Father Matthew, or Brother Thomas? Am I the messiah?”  They were all deeply puzzled by this teaching but never spoke it again.

As the days and weeks passed, life at the monastery began to change. The monks began to treat one another with a special reverence. There was a gentle, loving spirit about them that everyone noticed. They lived, worked, and worshipped together as bothers who had finally found something of great value and precious to them.

And soon, people began coming from everywhere to be nourished by the prayer life of the monks, and young men were again asking to become part of the community. It became apparent that the monastery’s impact on the surrounding community was reborn and energized.

A significant and visible change came over the monks when they believed the Messiah, the Christ to be present among them.

The author of this story is unknown, but the story is supported by historical records. I share the story because it illustrates what I think happens when we fully hear, understand, and believe the Christmas story of Jesus’ birth.

Imagine what would happen in our church if we believed that the Messiah is among us. Would we be more eager to be present whenever the church gathered? Would we be more attentive in greeting one another warmly with a genuine smile of appreciation. Would be more alert to notice and welcome the stranger in our midst. Imagine what would happen if we believed that the Messiah was among us, clothed in human flesh.

Imagine? No! No! Let us believe and live into the glorious truth that the Messiah is among us. Is not this the good news and invitation of the Christmas story? The scriptures affirm that it is so.

Jesus told his disciples, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. … On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” (John 14:18,20).

Jesus prays to the Father, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”  (John 17:22-23).

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – December 28, 2022

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Discovering the JOY of Christmas

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

(Luke 2:10-11)

From since our childhood, we have thought of Christmas as the most wonderful time of the year. We have listened to the story of the baby in the manger, the angels, the shepherds, and the wise men so often that we can almost recite the scriptures from memory. We have sung our favorite Christmas carols year after year and no longer need a hymnbook to sing them. And no one needs to remind us that Christmas is the celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth.

But, most likely, there are some of us who may not have discovered the JOY of Christmas. It seems that no matter how much you enjoy the holiday season and its festivities, the emptiness you feel deep within reminds you that the “great joy” promised by the angel has not been your personal experience.

This saddens me, because I believe that Christmas is about much more than just a fun-filled event. It is intended to be a personalized experience of much JOY. The Christmas story is like a letter addressed to each of us personally, inviting us to see, hear, and feel the life-changing JOY of the story’s good news.

As soon as the angels disappeared into the stillness of the night, the shepherds hurried to Bethlehem to search for this baby, this “Savior.” They had heard the good news, they believed, and they went and “found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.”

Filled with JOY they quickly spread the “good news that will cause great joy for all the people” to others as they returned to the fields and their work of caring for sheep, “glorifying and praising God for all the things they heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

Matthew tells us that Magi traveled a great distance to find this child who was “born king of the Jews” to worship him. Guided by a star, they eventually found the child with his mother Mary. Being “overjoyed” they bowed down and worshiped him, and then gave him gifts.

From its beginning, the Christmas story is a story of JOY. Repeatedly, fear and bewilderment become joyous rejoicing in song and worship. And down through the years of time, this good news of a Savior born to us, has been carried on the wings of song and carols.

So, if anyone of us is not experiencing the JOY promised by the angel, maybe we need to ask ourselves if we really believe the Christmas story; and maybe, more importantly, have we personally claimed and opened the gift of salvation that this baby, named Jesus, brought down to earth from heaven for each one of us.

Occasionally we read of someone who lived like a pauper, virtually starving themselves to death, even while they had thousands of dollars stashed away. We think this is tragic. But even more tragic is the person who celebrates Christmas, singing the familiar carols, listening to the Christmas story being retold, yet missing its JOY of because they either feel no need of a Savior, or have their life so cluttered with other “gods” that they have “no room” for the “holy Child of Bethlehem.”

If this be you, I enthusiastically invite you to find and experience the JOY of Christmas by sincerely singing the prayer printed as the last verse of “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

               O holy Child of Beth-le-hem, descend to us, we pray,

               Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today!

               We hear the Christmas angels  the great glad tidings tell.

               O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Em-man-u-el.

I urge all of us to pray this prayer humbly, sincerely, and fervently, during every year’s celebration of our Savior’s birth. If we do, I assure you that we will find and experience the JOY of Christmas throughout the days and weeks that follow.

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“The Healing Rays of Righteousness” – December 21, 2022

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

CHRISTMAS LITANY

For Family Christmas Dinner Gatherings

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

May your family be blessed as you join in these songs of Christmas joy.

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – December 14, 2022

 www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Tis the Season to be Jolly – or Not

Now is the wondrous Christmas season and everywhere we hear ‘Tis the season to be jolly. But you ask, “How can I be jolly, when I am feeling so sad, heart-broken, grieving the death of a loved one. For me, my pain of loss is even more severe during this time. Why should I and how can I be jolly when I am struggling just to cope with my pain of loss and loneliness?”

If this is your painful thoughts during this time of the year, please allow me to offer you a few encouragements from my own journeying experience through bereavement grief that may encourage and help you cope with the harsh realities of a significant loss in your life.

There is no questioning that your world has been turned upside down. Your life has been shattered by the death of a loved one. Everything is now uncomfortably and fearfully different. And the holiday celebrations of Thanksgiving and Christmas, only further maximize the pain of loss you feel.

Added to the deep hurting of significant loss, is the pain of other’s expectations. Friends, and maybe your own children, often do not understand the necessary journey through grief, or possibly do not want to deal with nor be reminded of its pain. And so, they strongly advise you to participate in family and church traditions as you always have done in previous years. For them, your need to grieve may be threatening and uncomfortable for them, and so they wish you would act as if nothing has changed.

Unfortunately, in response to these misguided expectations of others, you may be tempted to choose either to ignore your 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 are an appropriate response toward your coping with the reality of severe loss, nor do they enable you to move forward toward healing of your grief and renewed joy of living. In fact, both choices have very harmful consequences to your health and well-being.

There is no way to ease the pain, nor detour around it. But there are ways to deal with pain, that is, to cope with the reality of grievous loss. I recommend that you think of your bereavement grief as a painful experience of journeying through and toward healing and a new reality of joy and happiness.

First, allow yourself to feel what you feel, because what you permit yourself to feel can heal. Do not try to hide or bury your pain.  Acknowledge your sadness and allow yourself to cry, even in public places and church, but do not wallow in self-pity. Seize every opportunity to share memories with those who will listen. Talk about former holiday experiences and look at pictures.

Secondly, be realistic about what you want and 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 feelings. You can choose to address and send Christmas cards, but you cannot choose the feelings that will erupt when you do so.

Also, if you choose a change of scenery, such as distant travel or cruise, for the holidays, remember that grieving emotions will not only accompany you, but they will also be waiting for you when you return home. More importantly, in whatever you choose to do, beware of abusing medications, alcohol, or excessive eating to escape the pain. Remember to live only one day at a time.

Thirdly, choose to be active and around people. This may often be difficult but is important in combating loneliness. Try to exercise physically every day as 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. Volunteer to help in a ministry to those less fortunate than you.

And most importantly, renew and affirm your HOPE for the future. Hope is essential to coping with bereavement loss. Remember that 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. Hope for a better tomorrow enables you to cope with today and will infuse you with peace and joy on Christmas Day.

Above all, believe and be assured that God loves you, will provide for you, and has planned a good 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 the angelic carolers.

“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 you, 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.”  (Edmund H. Sears, 1849).

I pray that you will let God bless you during this Christmas season with His comforting, enabling grace. AMEN!

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – December 7, 2022

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

For What Do We Wait – Advent 2022

In 742 B.C., a young man from a good, influential family in Jerusalem responded to God’s call to bring a message of hope to a troubled and hopeless people. Despite all the difficulties that Isaiah experienced in a nation that seemed bent on self-destruction, he remained confident in the promises of God made to King David.

Isaiah was convinced that Yahweh was still in control of events, and that His purpose was to set up His kingly rule of peace over all the nations. Isaiah dreamed of a day when God would come and turn his people away from the hopeless darkness of sin and violence. He dreamed of a day when the desire to know God would turn his people and all peoples of the world, back to living as God intended for His created world. A world where justice, peace, and righteousness were the everyday reality.

During the annual Advent season, we celebrate the fulfillment of Isaiah’s hopes. This is the heart and soul of the Christmas message. On the night Jesus was born the angel announced to the world, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11).

Admiral Sir William Penn conquered Jamaica and took the land for himself. His son, another William Penn, chose an alternative way of conquering. On land granted to his father as payment of debt by the king of England, the young William Penn established Philadelphia and the colony of Pennsylvania.

Raised an Anglican, he became a pacifist Quaker and was expelled from Christ Church College, Oxford, for his nonconformist views. But that did not stop him from rebelling against the world of his upbringing. After his conversion to the Society of Friends, he was imprisoned at the age of twenty-five for publishing a booklet on Quaker beliefs.

When William Penn came to the colonies, he did not use force to take from the Native Americans the land by the Delaware River. Rather, he stayed faithful to the Quaker’s opposition to war by negotiating a peaceful and fair settlement with the Native Americans who lived on the land.

Some of the colonists had viewed the Native Americans as their enemy, but Penn’s vision of a society of peace overcame that perception and created a harmonious order. Unfortunately, that harmonious order was broken years later by others who lived and governed by self-interest and greediness.

About one hundred years after the establishment of Pennsylvania, a child born in Pennsylvania became an admirer of William Penn. Edward Hicks, a sign painter, Quaker preacher, and artist brought together Isaiah’s vision of a “peaceable kingdom” and William Penn’s peaceful treaty with the Native Americans.

He painted over eighty versions of the “peaceable kingdom.” In the foreground of one version, painted sometime in the 1830s, is the cast of characters from Isaiah; the wolf, lamb, leopard, kid, calf, lion, cow, bear, cub, and nursing child, whose hand is over the snake’s nest, and the older child with her hand over the snake’s den and leading the lion.

In another painting, just off to the side of the beasts and little children playing together there is a scene of William Penn and other leaders making a treaty with the native Americans.

Hick’s believed that all people are born with a “savage disposition,” like the leopard, bear, wolf, or lion. If undisciplined, killing and self-destruction are inevitable. In 1837 he preached a sermon on salvation, declaring that salvation depends on a willingness to allow the Divine Will to reign over self-will. The resulting rebirth transforms a person into a creature of gentleness, like a cow, lamb, or kid.

And I ask, is such a vision of the “peaceable kingdom” a realistic hope yet today? Can we hope for a day when Republicans and Democrats care more about the peace and well-being of the nation and the world than they do about the special interests of their donors, even when those interests are unfair and unjust? Will they ever be able to ignore the lobbyists and conspiracy theorists, to make governing judgments that are righteous and just.

The Bible speaks of a dream, an uncommon vision that tells us we can have a world of peace, that this is God’s intent for us, his created beings. Isaiah’s portrait of the peaceable community challenges all of us to deny selfish inclinations, which only cause devilish disunity, divisions, hatreds, and killings.

Advent, the four weeks before Christmas Day, is a time to be reminded of God’s intent for the world. God invites and expects us to live Isaiah’s vision, to give up having enemies, to make peace with them, to be child-like in trusting and loving, and to be righteous in our relationships with everyone.

Each year during the Advent season, God’s people declare by word and song the message of Isaiah’s vision to a world that has mostly closed its ears to God’s powerful proclamation of peace and joy.

The world asks, Do Christians really believe what they declare? Do they really believe God has a different vision for the world than what we see, and that God is at work redeeming and reconciling all things, all people, all creation back to Himself in the person of Jesus Christ?

I plead with you, my Christian friend, we cannot, we dare not give up praying, living, and working out Isaiah’s vision of God’s peaceable kingdom. Our faith and prayer commands it. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  AMEN!

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 30, 2022

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley