Grief

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Sometimes the news comes quick. Sometimes the news comes slow. No matter how or when it comes, grief travels in the wake of the news. Grief is heavy, weighty, a burden, especially when it involves someone deeply loved. Grief is not meant to be carried alone. It’s too heavy and may last a while—and that’s ok. That’s what family and friends are for, to share the load. Jesus stood outside the tomb of his friend and wept but He did not weep alone. It was a deep, human moment. “ Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted ” (Matt 5:4). If anyone knows how we feel in grief, it’s Him. But His grief did not linger long, as at the mention of his name, Lazarus came forth. We are not meant to dwell in grief, but should leave room enough for it. Let it run its course. Like the song says, “ Every Storm Runs Out Of Rain .” Another song says, “ The storm We will dance as it breaks The storm It will give as it takes And all of our pain is washed away Don't cry or be afraid Some things...

Run-on Temptation

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Shaking hands held the envelope open before his eyes as his insides gushed with wrenching warmth making him want to vomit and crawl under the desk with shame or embarrassment; yet he sat motionless, staring, hating himself for the senseless raging fight inside his head and in his soul not wanting to do wrong but do right as his Sunday School teacher always encouraged him to do when nobody was looking because this is the moment of true integrity (who you are is who you are when no one is looking) -- to be true to his conscience or convince himself to rectify the situation with a solemn promise to pay everything back in full restitution as he had promised to do so many times in the past when faced with this very same situation as it happened every year, year after year with envelopes exactly like this on days like today; but, why should he fail if all he had to do was close the drawer, stand up, walk out of the office, turn left, go down the hall and kill temptation right then and there by handing the envelope and all its contents over, forgetting everything inside that struck the chord of enticement ringing inside every person rich or poor in every walk of life in every culture across all time in every corner of the world since the moment the first man and first woman in history chose to disobey their creator in the garden that day?

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