Look at the world,
Everything all around us.
Look for the miracles
Each day; they surround us.
Look at the world,
Look at the blessings we all share.
Look for the love and the positives.
Look for them, friends; they are there.
I hope you will click on the song above, enjoy, and put its message in your heart. Look at the world… and see the good!
Tell me something you are thankful for today…
Let’s focus on our gifts and blessings.
God Bless you…
JanBeek
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò
Titular Archbishop of Ulpiana
Former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America
has written a letter to President Donald Trump:
In his letter, Archbishop Viganò addressed President Trump saying,
“In recent months we have been witnessing the formation of two opposing sides that I would call Biblical: the children of light and the children of darkness.”
He goes on to say,
“On the one hand there are those who, although they have a thousand defects and weaknesses, are motivated by the desire to do good, to be honest, to raise a family, to engage in work, to give prosperity to their homeland, to help the needy, and, in obedience to the Law of God, to merit the Kingdom of Heaven.
“On the other hand, there are those who serve themselves, who do not hold any moral principles, who want to demolish the family and the nation, exploit workers to make themselves unduly wealthy, foment internal divisions and wars, and accumulate power and money: for them the fallacious illusion of temporal well-being will one day – if they do not repent – yield to the terrible fate that awaits them, far from God, in eternal damnation.”
I find it inconceivable that the good man, Archbishop Viganò, goes on to align the first side he has identified with President Trump and the Republican party. If I was into labels, I could easily align them differently. Who’s to say which people as a group fall into which category? And what good comes of such lumping and labeling as a practice anyway? His divisive language is appalling to me – especially coming from a man of God.
Archbishop Viganò goes on in his letter:
“In society, Mr. President, these two opposing realities co-exist as eternal enemies, just as God and Satan are eternal enemies. And it appears that the children of darkness – whom we may easily identify with the deep state which you wisely oppose and which is fiercely waging war against you in these days – have decided to show their cards, so to speak, by now revealing their plans.”
He ends his letter by suggesting that President Trump should …
“… not accept being deceived by a minority of dishonest people with unavowable purposes. It is necessary that the good, the children of light, come together and make their voices heard.”
My friends, we are in a state of division and chaos in the United States. With COVID-19 putting people in isolation and the marches and riots protesting racial injustice pulling people together in proximity too close for comfort, we are in need of healing.
To suggest and label a portion of our society as people who are in the business of serving themselves, not holding any moral principles, demolishing the family and the nation, exploiting workers to make themselves unduly wealthy, fomenting internal divisions and wars, and accumulating power and money, is uncalled for!
What we need is words of love and unity coming from the clergy. Not more divisiveness! Not labeling. Not ushering Donald Trump and his followers into heaven while he condemns those who do not support his actions and policies to “eternal damnation.”
I worship a God who teaches people have the right to disagree with one another without name calling.
I worship a God who teaches me not to be the judge. That’s Jesus’ job!
I worship a God who teaches us to love one another – “Love your neighbor as yourself.” He teaches that you ALL are my neighbors.
I am a “Child of the Light” – and I am not here to to point fingers at anyone.
Why can’t we just love one another?
My friend, Doris, who graduated from high school with me back in the Dark Ages, sent me an e-mail today with 48 pictures designed to demonstrate acts of kindness in the midst of this world-wide time of struggle with COVID-19 and racial injustices.
I selected my favorites from the 48 – and want to share them with you here as an encouragement to go out and do likewise. Pick your favorite from these seven that I have chosen. Tell me why it touches your heart.
Each of the seven (selected in random order) were important to me. They demonstrate our need for ONENESS, UNITY, RESPECT, GOODNESS, LOVE, and KINDNESS.
The numbers attached to the pictures were on the website… they are not in any way prioritizing. And that message above was part of the post… “Bored Panda” was the source. Their word “tolerance” is not mine. It seems condescending to me. I prefer “LOVE.” Don’t just tolerate me! Love me… and treat me as I am: your equal! One of God’s children!! Just love me!!
I love YOU!
Can you choose one from those seven? Tell me why it resonated with you.
The YouTube below was also sent to me by that same high school friend, Doris. It’s a wonderful children’s choir singing about the memories that will live on in their lives after this time passes. Click on the arrow, sit back, and enjoy the voices, the melody, and the message.
And don’t forget the message here:
ONENESS,
UNITY,
RESPECT,
GOODNESS,
LOVE,
and KINDNESS.
Bee well, my friends.
I’m so glad I didn’t lose you…
Memories bring back YOU!!
See ya tomorrow.
Hugs, JanBeek
(Oh, leave me a note about your favorite of those seven, will you?)
Love and unity –
Respect yourself and others:
Hope for tomorrow.
Unity and love –
Respect others all the time:
Make us whole again!
Are you with me?
These lilacs connect
To the vine of existence
In the vine is life
Apart from the vine,
Obviously these flowers die.
We are just like that!
“I am the vine, you are the branches.
John 15:5 (NIV)
If you remain in me, and I in you,
you will bear much fruit;
apart from me you can do nothing.”
“For where two or three gather in my name,
Matthew 18:20
there am I with them.”
This morning I thought
I had lost my WordPress posts.
I thought I’d lost YOU!
Words of comfort came –
Rushed in to reassure me:
We are connected!
My history is here…
Eight years of important posts
Help keep us in touch.
Apart from you – Pop!
The balloon of my WordPress
Loses all its air!
When I posted this
Blog from my iPhone today
Only Youtube showed.
It’s an important
Message about connection
From Ronald Reagan.
Whether you are from the USA or not;
whether you are Republican or Democrat or Independent,
You should watch this.
It was recorded in a different era,
at a time when it was not seen as divisive
to evoke God’s name in the White House.
The Bible was not used as a prop.
It was quoted as a means of
encouraging us to reach out in love…
Reach out and
JUST LOVE ONE ANOTHER!
Please stay connected!
Apart from you, my blog is nothing.
Apart from God, I am nothing!
Caralyn of BeautyBeyondBones
(do you follow her here on WordPress?)
wrote to me today and said,
“We are all part of His family,
and I pray we all realize that
and start to act accordingly,
with love for our fellow brother and sisters!”
AMEN, Caralyn.
Amen, my dear brothers and sisters.
I love you all.
Please stay connected.
See ya tomorrow.
JanBeek
My WordPress site was hacked by someone. It had a new name and I couldn’t access it from my iPhone icon app. So I erased the icon on my cell phone and created a new log in. Now I see only evidence of sites I follow, but none of my previous posts. Lordy, I started in 2012 and had 930 followers -and was in my 138th consecutive day. Have I lost it all?? are you there?
It is a privilege
To breathe and to be alive,
To think and to love.
It is a privilege
To count and to be counted
Among your loved ones.
It is a privilege
To stay in contact often
With distant family.
Thank God for the web
And the way we can connect
Across many miles.
You are in my heart.
You are in my daily thoughts.
As you rise, feel it!
.
Have a blessed day.
Stay well – take care of yourself –
See you tomorrow.
Love,
JanBeek
I have heard (and often repeated) the phrase, “Fear is the opposite of Faith.“
Are wearing a mask, washing your hands often/thoroughly, and practicing social distancing acts of fear?
Is opening your home or your church, your store or your restaurant with no extra precautions due to COVID-19 an act of faith?
Is being too cautious an act of fear? (What does “too cautious” look like?)
Was shutting down our church at the height of the virus pandemic being too cautious? Was it contradictory to our faith?
Many questions of fear or faith were posed during our sermon today by Rev. Steve Hundley. I’ve listed ten of them below. We met as a congregation in the church building for the first time in twelve weeks. We’ve been ZOOM meeting since this pandemic was announced in the USA in mid-March.
To keep people safe, every other row of pews was ribboned off and people sat at least six feet apart in the pews.
During the hymns, Fran played a verse on the piano while the congregation either listened, read the words silently in the hymnals, or hummed along. For now, no singing out loud. That was hard for those of us who love to sing.
But the emissions from singing travel farther than those of just talking … some even further than coughing or sneezing. So, we were cautious.
Jim Forsberg provided special music during the service. Playing his guitar and singing… one of the numbers he sang was an old time favorite, “Jesus Loves the Little Children.” The lyrics go on to say, “all the children of the world… red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight; Jesus loves the little children of the world.” So pertinent in light today’s issues of racial inequality.
In the photo above, Jim and his wife, Jo, are chatting with Fran about the music – and I am sure commenting on how good it is to see one another again.
This mom had her hands full with this adorable, very active little guy. Murray keeps us all smiling with his exuberant energy. I love seeing the little ones in our worship service. Pastor Steve quoted a doctor at our Madison Valley Medical Center who said masks on children can be more bothersome and dangerous than no mask at all because children have a tendency to touch their face more when wearing one.
Here is Murray’s dad and little sister:
Rev. Steve Hundley posed some very thought-provoking questions in his sermon today. He didn’t really give us answers… just left the questions for us to ponder:
Fellowship in the foyer after church found people reconnecting, but remaining cautious. Are we maintaining our distance?
It may be easier for us in Montana to try and stay six feet apart, but you will notice in the pictures that even here, we don’t always adhere to that social distancing. It’s difficult! It’s neither foolishness nor fearlessness, it’s just hard!
How are you doing with this business of staying apart? What did you do this Sunday? Did your church meet physically again? If not, how did you worship our God today? Did you approach Him with your most difficult questions?
I hope you are healthy, happy, and safe.
I’ve gotcha in prayer, my friend.
See ya tomorrow.
Love, JanBeek
Travel with me from Ennis, Montana to Big Sky and back. Let’s celebrate my great-granddaughter’s first birthday!
It was a beautiful blue-sky, puffy cloud day. We left in plenty of time to get to the party by 1:00 PM. But, 23 miles out of Ennis, we ran out of gas!
The nearest gas station was 23 miles back where we came from!
But luckily, we had friends who lived just three miles from where we were, and my cell phone was still in a working range. So I called Nancy and she sent Marty with 1/2 gallon of gas. It was enough to get us back to Ennis. He followed us to make sure we’d make it. Oh my, what good friends!!
There’s the birthday girl, my great-granddaughter, Sienna, with our granddaughter, Hope. We were supposed to be there at 2: It was almost 4: by the time we arrived, but no one had eaten all the cupcakes yet!
Sienna was too busy eating Cheeto puffs!
The party was in this gorgeous setting right on the Gallatin River.
We had BBQed hamburgers before heading back home. We went the “other way,” through Four Corners rather than through Gallatin Gateway to avoid the road construction that delayed our arrival at the party.
The ride home was along the Gallatin River and through the Canyon that separates Madison and Gallatin Counties. Beautiful scenery!
The sky clouded even more as we returned home to Ennis, but the rain held off. It was a beautiful day – and a treat to celebrate Sienna’s #1 birthday with her.
Do you have grandchildren or great-grandchildren?
Do you get to celebrate their birthdays with them?
Thanks for joining me.
See ya tomorrow.
Have a Happy Saturday night.
Hugs, JanBeek
World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated on 5 June every year, and is the United Nations‘ principal vehicle for encouraging awareness and action for the protection of the environment. First held in 1972, it has been a flagship campaign for raising awareness on environmental issues emerging from marine pollution, human overpopulation, and global warming, to sustainable consumption and wildlife crime. World Environment Day has grown to become a global platform for public outreach, with participation from over 143 countries annually. Each year, WED has provided a new theme that major corporations, NGOs, communities, governments and all celebrities worldwide adopt to advocate environmental causes.[1][2]
What are we doing to be sure the earth is healthy?
With the world-wide pandemic, fish are surviving in the waters of Italy again. Skies are clear enough in the cities of China that the residents can once again see the sun.
COVID-19 shut down factories and so air and water pollution cleared. Is this only a temporary improvement of our environment with a temporary upheaval of jobs and production?
Can we restore people’s jobs and health and the increase of production while we continue to improve the health of our planet?
That’s what World Environment Day is all about.
Check it out here: World Environment Day 2020: https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/speech/it-time-nature-world-environment-day-2020
One World – One People – One day at a time –
Let’s make a difference!
What can YOU do?
See ya tomorrow.
JanBeek
Hugs to You !!
Inspire to Love
Let the SonShine!
You inspire me to respond
Learning to Live; Living to Learn; Learning to Love; Living in Love
Written
on June 6, 2020