Trusting in Prayer

In visiting many different churches and Bible studies with many different groups of people, I have seen many different ways to pray. Each time I have learned something by listening to others interact with God. There are different approaches and different formulas, but one has really made an impression.

Some people, when they ask God for help, do it with a sense of insecurity. If God is willing, If God agrees. Please, please, please. There is a sense of anticipation of failure sometimes, an I-don't-know attitude.
Then there are people who pray with certainty for what they want and need. Their speech, whenever they talk about what they have prayed for, is filled with anticipation of success.

They aren't praying to God and hoping for the best. They are praying and trusting that God WILL do it. This works toward a more powerful prayer, a more powerful life, a more powerful faith. People who TRUST God for something instead of simply asking for it surprised me at first. I had never encountered this sentiment, this turn of phrase, before college.

Now, I see how this kind of prayer reflects a more powerful and intimate faith. Don't just wish God would do something, know He will. He will always work toward the good of those who love Him.

I have a job interview soon, for a job that I desperately want to get. It is perfect for me and my career, or so I think. I could be nervous, fuss and fidget and stress over it all week, but I won't. I'm trusting that God will secure for me a job that will set me on the right career path. So worry is gone and God is in charge. I trust that this job is right for me and He will steer me smoothly into it.

What is on your mind, what needs do you have, what obstacles are there? Don't just pray, don't just ask, trust that God will do all you ask and more. Walk by faith, and wait in sure expectation of the results. Because God is on our side.

Juggling Act

I stand, arms stretched out, trying to keep track of three or four flying objects at once. Family is the great juggling act, and I drop the ball far more often than I should. Grandparents, siblings, parents, cousins, aunts and uncles. It is hard to give everyone the attention they deserve, make sure no one feels left out or under appreciated.

I stand in the center ring and run back and forth, catching balls and throwing them in the air again. Does anyone appreciate my crazy dance? Do they even see it happen?

This is how I feel every holiday, when we have to go to four Christmases, two thanksgivings, three Easters. Running back and forth can be exhausting, and sometimes I really start hating the holidays. My ears hurt from the noise, my head hurts from the heat of too many people stuffed into a small room, and my nerves are rubbed raw by too many things going on around me. I just want to cover my head and scream, bury myself in a deep dark hole and never come out again. I'm going to turn into the recluse who never pokes her nose out of her burrow.

Neither one of these is a good way to live. The frantic juggling act or the deep dark hidey-hole are two ends of a wide spectrum. I just can never seem to find the middle, the place where I am comfortable and not overwrought. Some of you don't have this problem, you thrive on the group gatherings, you love being with lots of people. I love people, but large group events are the hardest thing for me to endure.

The holidays can become all about other people, pleasing people, serving people, getting up and going out with people. At the end of it I'm exhausted because I made no time for me. Or else I protect myself from the stress and the holidays become about what I want, and nobody else.

The true joy of the holidays shines out when I find that blance, when I can juggle all the balls smoothly, when I balance my focus between what I need and those around me. This is true in any season, any relationship, but it shows itself more strongly during the holidays. Celebration is about us together, about accomodating you without giving up my integrity or effacing myself. Learning when to say yes, and when to say no, when to reach out and when to let it go.

So I hope that as holiday season closes in and you find yourself pushed and pulled between family and friends, functions and factions, shopping and decorating, you make sure that whatever you do for the holidays strikes a balance. And if you can learn to juggle the holidays, the rest of your life should slowly fall into place as January turns to Februrary and we wait through the long, dark cold for the light of Easter's spring.

Fake Harry Potter Spoilers for the Deathly Hallows

It was over three years ago that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released. With the arrival of the movie, I look back at the fun time we had preparing for the release party, anticipating the book and discussing theories about the ending, and making t-shirts that would drive fellow party-goers up the wall.

It started after Half Blood Prince came out. Someone created a t-shirt that said on the front: Dumbledore dies on page (insert page for UK or US edition.)
The back read: At least I didn't tell you Snape did it.

While this shirt was hilarious for someone who had read the book, it was a horrible spoiler for anyone who hadn't. But it sparked an idea...

A series of t-shirts which all read on the front:
Harry dies on page (insert favorite number here).

People who saw the shirts got awful mad until they read the back. :)
There were several versions:

Molly did it. She hugged Harry to death.
Fred and George did it. They were testing a new invention. Oops.
Dobby did it. He was trying to save Harry's life again.
Hermione did it. They didn't know she was THAT mad.
Neville did it. He wanted to be the hero!
Bush did it. We blame him for everything else.
Remus did it. Full moon, enough said.
Umbridge did it. She was secretly in love with Fudge and blamed Harry that he wasn't minister anymore.
Tonks did it. She tripped over the troll-leg umbrella stand which made Mrs. Black start screaming with startled Crookshanks who ran up the stairs as Harry was coming down....
Hagrid did it. He had this new pet he wanted to show Harry.


My favorite:
Harry dies on page 666.
Voldemort did it. Duh.

Turns out this last one was kinda true, but not really a spoiler. I mean, seriously, we all knew it was a possibility.

For the costume of Bellatrix Lestrange we created this shirt:

Kill Harry Potter Fan Club
Heroes Die Young!!

President: Tom Riddle a.k.a. Voldemort
Vice President: Severus Snape
Treasurer: Lucius Malfoy
Secretary: Dolores Umbridge

Join Now! Membership includes and interview with the full Wizengamot and a one-way all-expenses paid trip to Azkaban. Call 1-800-DIE-POTTER.

Harry Potter, and other obsessions

Some people just don't get it. They raise their eyebrows when you walk down a street in a black pointed hat and robes with a finely sanded stick in your hand. They shake their heads at the lighting shaped magic marker scars or Dark Mark's we scrawl on our forearms. Some of them have even read the books, and don't think that JK Rowling's series is that much better than any other book out there.

It's not actually about the quality of the book, or the magical v. muggle world. I've read plenty of books that are just as good as Harry Potter, but I haven't dressed up as those characters. It's not really about the story. It's about the community of people who have found something that they all enjoy. I love to get involved in Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and other such obsession-ridden stories largely because so many people are obsessed.

The obsession itself is half the fun. Getting involved in the same book, TV show or movie can connect people over large distances who have never, ever met face to face. You can relate through characters, scenes and themes laid out in the book. Just look at the huge online networks, groups and chatrooms which spring up around fantasy or sci-fi. The story the author created is the bridge that draws people together.

It's not nearly so much fun to dress up as a Vorkosigan, because hardly anybody knows what that is. I don't have a standby costume for Cimorene or Morwen, even though I enjoy them just as much as Hermione and Ginny. It's just not as fun if there's no one else around, no one to discuss story with, no one to reenact scenes with, no one to be a foil to my chosen character.

Yesterday I attended an opening weekend showing of the Deathly Hallows part one. The church youth group leader organized the event for youth and their families. He thought four or five people might show. We filled up three rows, with just as many adults as youth. We wore our Harry Potter t-shirts and spent at nearly an hour in discussion afterwards. We would have gone on longer, but an empty stomach called me away to dinner. It wasn't just about the story we saw unfold onscreen, but rather about coming together to share the experience.

I have always had a hard time fitting in with people, being part of a group, finding common interests to keep a conversation going. When a story that I enjoy is the central part of the discussion or activity, my inhibitions fall away and I can feel comfortable in situations that usually set my teeth on edge. Stories have this power.

So next time you're getting ready to roll your eyes at an adult in full Klingon armor, green face paint and plastic ears, or black robes and a wand, remember. We feel the same away about your sports, your shopping and shoe fetishes, your real-world lives and obsessions. Fundamentally, we're not doing anything different, weird or outlandish. We're just reaching out to kindred spirits to make friends and form community through the language of fiction.

Suburbia

Subdivisions. Suburbs. Dried-up wastelands of brown grass and tiny trees surviving on the life support of daily sprinklers. Sprinklers that keep the grass green and soft, grass that the children don’t play on because they are inside, eyes fixed on the television or computer. There is nothing interesting left for them outside; it has all been cut down and banished in the name of ‘lawn care’ or ‘construction.’


I fail to understand why anyone would want to live in a place like that. Yet people flock there by the dozens, hundreds, and thousands. Each decade, the houses become bigger, the yards smaller, and the trees more shriveled. Each time the fields shrink, the unending mediocrity and stifled content of the middle-class ideal grows. It engulfs more people, more freedom, more land and more life.


There is no doubt that the houses are nice, palatial in some cases. But they can’t be lived in without fear of scratching the pristine varnish. Children must take their shoes off at the door. Dirt must be banished, as if it were not the stuff we are all made of and therefore essential for life. Fingerprints must be expunged and heaven forbid anyone step on the grass. A picture perfect life is one in which no one has a chance to move.
Picture-perfect is static, unchanging, stifling. It will fade and whither to the pale brownish yellow of old photographs, the flat, dull expression growing more serious with every passing generation.


Three car garages to hold one car and enough junk to keep the homeless happy for months. Heating costs that would keep a single mother with three children warm for five winters. All this just to fight the draft from costly windows that don’t fit right.


As suburbia grows, another phenomenon takes place within the heart of the city. It grows black and stony, turns sour and bitter.


When the affluent seek the shelter of their secluded suburbs, they no longer see the poverty, the hunger, the fear that haunts the streets of their once-nice cities. They take their wealth with them, and leave nothing behind for the millions who cannot afford their small apartments, or to drive an hour just to get to a job. What was a bad situation becomes worse, crime rises while city funds and social programs decrease.


When this happened in Rome, the result was the Middle Ages. Now it’s happening again, which doesn’t make the future look very bright. The rich are abandoning the poor, the economic divide is growing. And what do we do? We hide behind privacy fences so we can’t see the results.


Suburbia, the middle class American dream, is a danger to the entire fabric of society. An insulated life leaves the next generation blind to the troubles of the world outside. A life of luxury only adds to the growing hardships of the poor. When the rich ignore the state of the world around them, bloody chaos like the French Revolution happens.


Gated communities need to rip down their security fences and leave their ideal idea behind, because an ideal can never be real. The real world needs suburban people to leave their artificial landscapes and climate controlled houses, before it is too late.

Poverty

Poverty keeps us humble.
Poverty keeps us aware of the constant need in the world, and our duty to fill it.
Poverty keeps us in touch with the needy, and the problems that truly need solving.
Poverty helps us love, because we focus on others instead of ourselves. We receive help, and so can become better at giving it.

It is a shame that the pope resides in a palace, while millions starve.
It is a shame when a pastor, preacher or minister possesses more than the poorest member of the church.
It is a shame when any member of the church goes hungry.
It is a shame that many poor people know from experience that the church will not give them help, so they don‘t bother to ask.

Prosperity is Poison: Solomon’s Folly

Aspirations are dangerous, wealth is corrupting, power is precarious. All of these things that we strive and hope for end up being our undoing. Written into each story of success are the ingredients for downfall. They cannot be separated. With every gain comes the seed of destruction.
The cycle can be seen over and over again in history. Why do empires fall? Because they prosper. Every great leader has put into place policies which ultimately led to destruction, including the great Caesar Augustus, first imperator of Rome. He created an elite group of guards to keep himself safe, and gave these guards special powers. A few hundred years later, members of that same group determined the next successor to the throne, and even put it up for auction to the highest bidder.

Pyramids are huge, a monument to a great age in Egyptian history. Yet they used to gleam in the sun, because they were covered with gold and jewels. Now all of their treasures have been plundered, and even the immortal dead are defiled and on display for all to see. Obsessed with life after death, pharaohs built huge tombs and hid away hoards of treasure. They expanded Egypt’s dominion to encompass more and more land. It was too much for one government to handle. Unable to effectively control their large population or support the demands of lavish burials, their splendor is now nothing but a memory, a legend, a bad horror movie.

Spain conquered the New World, and brought back ships bursting with gold. The economy crumbled because traditional crafts and more humble occupations paled in comparison to the fame and riches of the conquistadores. Gold lost its value, because there was so much of it, and inflation set in. Spain fell into poverty, because they chased riches and found them in abundance.

England defeated the famous Spanish Armada and took their place at the forefront of world powers. They claimed lands in countries not their own, to exploit the people and wealth of the region to their own national gain. Taking what they pleased, they spread discontent among the people they ruled. England lost an empire because they could not afford to keep it. They spread themselves too thin, grasping for more eventually to lose it all.

Solomon is one of Israel’s most famous kings. Known for his wisdom, and his wealth, the kingdom prospered during his reign. Yet it is because of Solomon that civil war ripped one country into two. He demanded heavy taxes and hard labor from his people in order to build his magnificent palaces and keep up his extravagant harem. After his death, the people rebelled against his son for pursuing the same policies. His wisdom could not protect him from the most basic mistake all nations make.

Israel failed to learn this lesson, although God warned them over and over again. He told them not to have a king; a king must have power to rule successfully. He will levy taxes, draft men for the army, and force the people to labor for him. All of this happened. The people had their strong leader, a king that made them like the larger and more powerful nations around them. They also lost much of their freedom.

One of the few historical mentions of Israel outside of the Bible refers to a king Omri, and his son Ahaz. These notorious villains of the Elijah cycle, especially Ahaz’s wife Jezebel, are a perfect example of the dangers of wealth. These kings played with international politics, made their kingdom stronger, and allowed and even encouraged foreign traditions and religion. They made Israel into a power the other nations recognized and Elijah denounced on God’s behalf.

Wealth and power lead to comfort and pride. When one has everything, one has no fear and no need. Without need, we reject God and his great blessings. Punishment arrives, brought by our own hand.
Israel fell to Assyria because it was the richer nation. Judah was spared because it was poor and too small to bother with conquering. When Judah followed in Israel’s sin, and became rich enough to attract the attention of other nations, Judah also fell. They worked with foreign kings to increase their power and formed alliances instead of relying on God for protection. They sought to be strong, and fell because of it. Had they left well enough alone, they would have been left alone.

Prosperity is poison. The more we have, the closer we are to calamity. The greater the country, the more imminent its decline. Yes, even the United States of America will one day cease to be a world power. But that is not what scares me.

As our lives become more comfortable and easy, we come closer to spiritual death. The only solution is Paul’s; to be content no matter what the circumstances. Jesus told us not to worry. It is in our worry and concern for making it, for getting it right and acquiring what we need, that we cause the most problems.

What is true of nations is true of people, too. No matter how rich or poor, striving for prosperity will always lead to ruin. Lottery winners are more likely to commit suicide than anyone else.

Extravagant wealth is wrong. To possess more than what you need is excess, and excess is dangerous. Ask Solomon. His folly cost his son a kingdom. Anyone who has more than they need must work to give it away, to help others and reach out with their resources. To keep anything back for yourself is a sin.

Jesus kept nothing, he loved instead. Anytime we keep something back for ourselves, we defy love and submit to greed. Christianity was originally a movement of poverty. The believers sold all they had, shared their belongings, and took care of the poor (check the book of Acts!). They understood that they did not need these things to be secure, and that love is far more important. God honor’s our sacrifice, just as he honored Jesus’ sacrifice. We cannot be who we were made to be until we sacrifice.

Two car garages
Carefree vacations
Gorging ourselves at a buffet.
Air conditioned houses.
Ten pairs of shoes.

Excess has become part of our lives. Many Americans feel that they are struggling through life if they do not have these ‘simple comforts’. The truth is, they have all that they need. Anything more is wealth, and wealth is the cause of all evil.

No sugar please

Sometimes, it feels like modern Christianity lives in a candy-coated world. We want to make everything nice. Wave and smile at your neighbor, no matter what you feel like, no matter if you actually know them or not. Keep your house nice, look good for church, apply Jesus like a band-aid to every scraped knee, because he'll make everything ok.



The problem is that life's not fair, bad things happen to good people, and Christians who are living the easy life aren't really living the Christian life.

Jesus didn’t tell us to be the sugar of the earth, to make everything nice and sweet, to always be smiles and please everyone you meet. In fact, I’ll bet one of the last words used to describe Jesus would be sugary. He was a hard-core, tough, rude, in-your-face man who didn’t care if he pleased people, and didn’t come so that we could have our cake and eat it to.

Jesus told us to be salt. Salt and sugar don’t often mix. They are very different ingredients which produce very different results.

Sugar can taste really good. We often eat too much of it because we like it so much. It’s the reason so many people in America are overweight, the reason so many people have diabetes or high cholesterol. Now, salt isn’t the perfect ingredient either; every analogy has its flaws. But sugar can rot your teeth, and is rarely part of nutritious food.

Salt, on the other hand, was used to preserve food in the ancient world. We can get along without sugar, but we can’t live without salt. The body needs salt to survive, which was why in some desert cultures salt was more valuable than gold.

Do we want to be the thing that makes people fat and complacent, that rots their teeth and feeds their disease? Or do we want our words to reflect the essential elements of life, to preserve the soul and help people carry on?

People don’t need more sugar. They don’t need you to be all smiles and tell them that things will get better. Life is hard, and Jesus knew it. He didn’t gloss over it. In fact, He warned everyone who followed Him that it would be hard, harder than a normal life. He didn’t expect everyone to accept His message, in fact He told his disciples to be ready for rejection. They were to be salt, not sugar.

False prophets were the ones whose words were always sweet. They said that Israel could go on doing as they please, because nothing bad would happen. They sound like the people today who say it doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you believe it. The message that sounds the best, that is easiest to accept, that is sweet to the taste without any unsavory demands, is always wrong.

So be salt. Don’t let anyone water your words down to make them politically correct or more socially acceptable. Beware of sugar, beware of sweet words born of sweet intentions that lead to rot and decay. Focus on truth and walk the hard road.

Christ for Femenism

An argument for female leadership and an end to gender-based oppression within Christianity.

There are several Bible verses which seem to indicate that the ‘traditional’ gender roles are a decree from God. That a woman should get married, have a family, and take care of the kids. That women should take a back-seat to men as the weaker gender. One verse says that women should cover their heads, another that they should not speak in church but rather ask their husbands any questions they have after they get home.

The Catholic church and many other denominations do not allow women to hold clergy/ministry positions. They cannot preach or lead or help make important decisions. For centuries culture and religion have said that woman cannot, and should not, do everything a man can do.

This is wrong. Christians should never use Bible verses to legitimize oppression based on gender. Today, we would all agree that slavery is wrong, and God does not condone it. Yet Christian slave owners used Bible verses to uphold their ownership of human property. It took a war to put a stop to it.

Things have been changing, but the problem isn't fixed yet. We need to stop the church from oppressing women and silencing their voices, for several very Biblical reasons.

Women were leaders in the first century church. They did not take a back-seat role, but were directly involved in preaching, teaching and leading. Lydia is one example, she was an independent merchant, and a church met in her household. Women such as Phoebe were church deacons, something that is not allowed in many churches today. Non-Biblical sources from the same time period also mention female Christian leaders, even female slaves who were deacons in their church.

The Church is often referred to as the ‘bride’, as a woman. Who better to lead, then, than women? If the church is to live out the qualities of an expectant bride-to-be, the women are the best leadership example, not men.

Jesus worked to free the oppressed, and came to reach all people not matter what their station in life. He spoke with social outcasts as if they belonged and lifted people out of the dark place a cruel society had force them into. He fought oppression. When the church denies women equality with men and leadership positions, it oppresses them. This is contrary Jesus’ life and teaching.

We hear that all are equal in Christ. Therefore, women share equal status with men

Jesus taught men and women equally (Mary, Martha, Mary Magdalene and the woman at the well) in a time when society said a religious teacher should not be seen speaking to a woman.

Women took care of the disciples needs and were an integral part of Jesus’ ministry, as much as their culture would allow. Jesus did not prevent women from holding leadership roles, the culture did.

Document analysis shows that the parts of the Pauline letters which tell women to be silent and submissive were most likely added to the text at a later date and not written by Paul at all. Additionally, those parts of the text are difficult to translate accurately. The subservient position of women, the oppression of one gender by another, is an invention of the hierarchical, organized church corrupted by power, and not part of Jesus’ teaching or the Holy Spirit’s inspiration.


Oppression of Patriarchy: A Lesson for Fathers

When the church says:
Women must be silent.
Your daughter hears:
I am not worth listening to.
When the church says:
Men must lead, a woman cannot.
Your daughter hears:
There is something wrong with me.
When the church says:
Submit to your husband.
Your daughter hears:
My opinion does not matter.
When the church says:
Women cannot teach men.
Your daughter hears:
I am stupid because I am a girl.
When the church says:
Only men can be elders or deacons.
Your daughter hears:
Nothing I do will ever be good enough.
When the church says:
Men are strong.
Your daughter hears:
I am weak.
When the church says:
Family is the point of marriage, you should settle down and have children.
Your daughter hears:
There are no opportunities for me. My skills and talents are pointless.

What do you want your daughter to hear?
If you want your daughter to have a strong faith, teach her to lead the debate against learned men.
If you want you daughter to be sure of herself, teach her to lead men and women equally.
If you want your daughter to love, teach her to lead others in righteous paths.
If you want your daughter to have high self esteem, teach her not to let anyone talk down to her. Not even a preacher.
If you want your daughter to know she is worthy, teach her to speak and applaud her words.
If you want your daughter to live free of shame, teach her that she is the equal of a man.
Or else you crush her soul with the weight of your arrogance and pride.

Water

Clean water is one of the big issues facing the world today. Millions of people don’t have access to clean water, and are at a high risk of contracting diseases from their dirty water sources. It’s a serious problem, but one that I couldn’t relate to much until today.

We are currently under a boil order. Everything that comes out of the faucet has to be boiled before it goes into the mouth. I have never, ever had to boil my water before. I’ve never once thought that the stuff coming out of my kitchen sink might not be good to drink. I trust the water in the faucets.

That is the scary part. The landlord in the mobile home park forgot to put up signs saying “boil order.” Besides that, if you don’t go past an entrance, you don’t know that there is a boil order. No one calls your home. No one knocks on your door. It’s up to you to find out if your water is good or bad, and there is not direct warning when it changes. I got lucky. A maintenance man was walking by when I took the trash out, and mentioned the boil order. If he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have known about it at all.

This is how the church acts sometimes. Jesus is more essential than water, in fact He is the Living Water. Millions of people around the world don’t have this water, they don’t know Jesus or they only know a diluted, false version of him, like the unsafe water coming out of my faucet. They won’t know anything is wrong until someone tells them.

Yet many churches don’t knock on their doors or call them up. They don’t go out to reach the lost. They set up fancy buildings with big crosses on top and little slogans or Bible verses on the front sign. Then, they expect people to come to them, to seek out the Good News they have to offer. The problem is that many of the lost don’t know to seek, they don’t know what to look for, they don’t know where to go. That’s why their lost. I needed to be told about the boil order. People need to be told about Jesus.

We need to be more proactive in our approach. We need to get out on the streets and meet people where they are. We shouldn’t expect our example and our churches, our activities and our strange rituals to draw people in. Jesus didn’t. He went to people and taught them where they were. He sought the lost, he lived with them, he got to know them and made them his priority. We lose when we make religion our priority, instead of people. We lose when we make church our priority, instead of God. People need water, and we shouldn’t let them continue to live on poisonous lies.

Be living water. Flow. Leave your home, your church, your safe zone. Get out and teach. Tell people about the gift you have been given. Or else they’ll never know.

Love is Power

Love is power. Do you realize how much potential power you carry around with you every day? Every time you encounter another person, you have power over them. This power can affect their attitude, their day, their entire life. This is not power to be trifled with. It can transform the world, reshape communities, and change lives. This power rests inside of you, and always has.

Every time you encounter another person, you make a choice. Whether you are conscious of it or not, you have a choice in how to treat that person. The answer to that choice is the power you invoke over that person. There are only two options. Love or hate.

Now you are sitting there thinking, I never choose to hate someone! However, you do not consider this: the absence of love is hate. Every time you choose to treat someone in a way that does not demonstrate love, you show them hate. You show that person that they do not matter. You show that person that you do not care about them. You show that person that they are not worth the small amount of energy it would take to be polite, to be kind, to show love.

The affect of such a choice can be severely damaging. When it happens on a nation-wide scale, we get disasters like World War II. When it happens on a personal level, we get lying, cheating, theft and murder. People who do not feel loved cannot learn to show love. Every time you slight someone, every time you brush them off or push them aside, you push them down a dark path.

Love gives us power over other people, and people empower us through love. Think about all of the reasons you have to do good. I bet you will cite a person as the driving force in your life, friends and family you encouraged you, helped you, loved you. You feel good and do good because you know you are loved.

The opposite is also true. Think about all of the bad things that you have done, the times you acted out, acted on anger, hurt another’s feelings. Why did you do it? Because someone wasn’t giving you the love you needed. Educational psychologists have conducted studies which show that positive reinforcement, reward and encouragement, is far more affective than negative reinforcement, punishment and threats, in teaching children to learn and behave. Love makes us better, lack of love drags us down.

God shows us the magnitude of love’s power. He gives us love without end, and it is the people who have truly, fully known the love of God who have done the most for this world. When we are secure in the love of God, we need nothing else. His love is strong enough, as Paul says, to help us be content in all things. Hardship, poverty, danger, do not matter when the love of God is present. We don’t need anything else, and this gives us the power to live to our fullest potential. This is the power of God. This is the power God gave you.

Love is power. It sounds strange, but it’s true. It is one of the foundations of this world. And we have been entrusted with this power, every single one of us. So remember as you go about your life, work and play, that every action you take is full of power for good, or power for hate. Every time you interact with (or choose to ignore) another person, you help change the face of the world.