Author: Sharon Douglas, BCC

We often hold grudges, staying angry at those who have hurt us.  We have a hard time forgiving others and a harder time forgiving ourselves.  Staying angry or not forgiving someone takes a lot of energy more energy than it takes to forgive.  God knows our anger and those we hold grudges against.  God showed his own anger in the Old Testament and his forgiveness through his son in the New Testament.

Psalm 6 The poet of this first of the seven penitential psalms pleads with God for deliverance from the dreadful misery of sin.  Our foes are really our own distorted thoughts and selfish habits, which wreak more damage than we often imagine (Magnificat p.252 Jan 2013) Once we realize we are acting out of anger we can then move to the realm of forgiveness.

Psalm 78 is a recital of history to show us past generations did not respond to God’s gracious deeds and were punished by God making the gift into a punishment. Israel fails to appreciate God’s act— The introduction of the psalm invites Israel to learn the lessons hidden in its traditions (Ps 78:1–4, 5–7, 8–11); each section ends with the mention of God’s acts as in this section of the psalm. There are important messages in this psalm such as gracious act (Ps 78:12–16, 40–55), rebellion (Ps 78:17–20, 56–58), divine punishment (Ps 78:21–31, 59–64), God’s readiness to forgive and begin anew (Ps 78:32–39, 65–72).

Then in Mark 2:1] He was at home: to the crowds that gathered in and outside the house Jesus preached the word, and the necessity of repentance and faith (Mk 1:14). [2:5] It was the faith of the paralytic and those who carried him that moved Jesus to heal the sick man. Jesus’ emphasis is on faith as the requisite for exercising his healing powers and forgiveness. Mk 5:34; 9:23–24; 10:52).

Ver. 4. The sinners friends had such diligence to bring their sinning friend to Christ, by means of raising the roof, what wonderful friends he has.

Ver. 5. When Jesus saw their faith. Our Lord is moved to show mercy to sinners, by the faith and desires, and prayers of others; for this man was not more helpless in his limbs, than in his soul. From this example, we are taught that in sickness the sacraments and helps of the Church, which are the medicines of the soul, should be called for in the first instance; for Christ first healed the sick man’s soul, before he removed his bodily infirmity. We also learn that many diseases originate in sin, and that we are to remove the effect by removing the cause.

Ver. 10. The Son of man. Jesus Christ here proved that himself as man, and not as God only, hath power to forgive sins; by this, that he was able to do miracles, and make the sick man suddenly rise; so the apostles and their successors, though they be not God, may in like manner have authority from God to remit sins, not as God, but as God’s ministers, and acting in his name, and vested with his delegated authority. — On earth. This power which the Son of man hath to remit sins on earth, was never taken from him, but is perpetuated in his sacraments and ministers, by whom he still remitted sins in the Church, and not in heaven only. Relative to sin, there is one court of conscience on earth, and another in heaven, and the judgment of heaven followed and approved this on earth; as is plain by the words of our Saviour, to Peter first, and then to all the apostles: Whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall by bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. See Matthew xvi. 19. and xviii. 18. Whereupon St. Jerome said: that priests having the keys of the kingdom of heaven, judge in some manner before the day of judgment. (Ep. v. ad Heliod; and St. Chrysostom, more at large, lib. iii. de Sacerd.)

The story is powerful in the way that no matter what we do, we are forgiven if we believe. It is our faith which sets us free. It is our faith in our selves which forgives. Have you forgiven yourself? Are you still holding grudges against others?   How do you relate to the story?

Life just happens, it is not God or any other higher power putting evil in our life or giving us more than our shoulders can bear. Life is just life, it’s a world of natural causes which sometimes we just don’t have answers to. Yet the world was created for us to live in the best way we know how. We are here to love each other and to be here for each other. The famous saying, love thy neighbor. Right? This week has been incredibly hard for some of us; we have had a loved one die un-expectantly. When this happens we tend to blame those around us, we try to find answers and we try to make sense of it. After all we are only human. We make mistakes and life just happens.

I remember when someone close to me passed away, I was a little apprehensive about coming back to work and my studies as a chaplain because I cringed at the thought of people saying certain words of condolences to me such as ‘she’s in a better place’, ‘this must be hard for you’. No one knows how the other feels or can really say anything to make you feel better. Death is imminent yet when it happens it becomes so unfair and hurtful to those who are left behind and even more so when it is unexpected.

This week we have had several unexpected deaths, a small child, a middle aged man, a young woman. So what can we do when we are traumatized in this way? One thing I have always used to pull me through is my faith. So if faith is something which goes beyond you; can it help? Faith is trust, love and hope. My faith allows me to trust in the will of the world, so that when I’m hurting I will find strength to get me through. I find each person loves in their own way and the best way they can. My love of people helps me to be open to those around me who just want to be there for me. And my hope is that we will all get through this together as a source of support, comfort and to lend a shoulder.

I pray we all get through the joys and tragedies in our life with the help of our family, friends and a perfect stranger.

Lord, you who brought peace in the midst of the storm are the only one who can bring peace to our world today. How much anger we see raging around us, Lord. And the conflicts are not limited to wars on foreign soil. Rather they rage in the hearts and minds of many of us. Be the source of peace in every gathering storm, Lord. You are the Prince of Peace, and we need you desperately. (A Women’s Daily Prayer Book, pg. 187)

Let our Higher Power, the one person or thing that we look up to, guide us and to be there for us when we are angry or afraid of what we might do with our rage.

Let us take a moment this week to realize it is our own devises which create havoc in the world in which we live. It is when we are not listening to the positive voices within us that we act out against another. It is outside negative influences as well, that we allow into our hearts and ultimately destroy us thus destroying those around us.

I know that all of us want to do ‘good’ and we don’t want to harm another. Yet, as we look at the world around us how can we see ‘good’. Right now in this world we need to look for the ‘good’ within ourselves first then we can see it in others and in the world.

This week I have been praying earnestly for those in the Middle East and those who are troubled here in the States. I heard from a friend the other day that another village was taken over by ISIS. They beheaded women and children. My heart cries out to those who are killed by senseless crimes through misguided beliefs. Then we hear of a preacher and others gunned down in a church by a young man. I ask myself when will it end and then I smile to myself as if to say: “It starts with me.”

See I am a Christian and my Higher Power is God. I pray to Him for all, all of the time. I believe my prayers will be answered. I guess I’m saying we need to have faith in each other. Faith is trust and love which is something that we are not sure of. Faith and belief in a higher power is something intangible which we cannot see, yet we long to believe in something that is good. So have faith in one another and let others help you when you are angry or rage driven.

It’s not easy, it takes courage. Our Higher Power will give it to us, if we ask. I remember talking with an atheist a while back. I let him know I was a Chaplain, he said rather coarsely, “I don’t believe in God.” I said, “OK, so what gives you peace.” He answered, “I like to walk in the woods, look at the trees and feel the light breeze on my face.” I asked, “When you are there in the woods and feel at peace, does it make you feel good? Do you feel better?” He answered as he smiled contently, “Yes, I do.” I said, “See, it is us having faith in something or someone that brings us that inner peace which helps us through our struggles in life. So, when you go home from rehab, remember your favorite place and go there as often as you can.” The gentleman was in an addiction center and as we worked through his support system at home we found what gave him inner peace and ultimately he found his Higher Power.

I believe all of us need and want something which gives us meaning and purpose to live life the best we know how. Pray for those who need it the most, ISIS, the young man in Charleston, all the victims/survivors and for all the families involved. I will be praying for you too.
(momentsofrevelationbySharon.com 6/28/2015)

Resilience is the ability to respond creatively to stressful, pressure packed, anxiety-producing situations. A resilient person rather than be deformed or destroyed is able to engage those conditions in healthy, redemptive ways which brings about wholeness. We can respond to situations two ways: fight or flight. Fight is equal to attacking and flight is withdrawal: mental, physical and emotional. The article references St. Paul from Scripture. Paul gives us a third way to handle life disrupting situations: “In nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:6-7)
– Just pull yourself into a spiritual “cocoon” and let God protect you from the adversity. It’s a mode to be in to engage all aspects of life. We don’t need a certain set of tools to use because there is a deeper reality out of which all of life can be lived. React to others spontaneously and joyously from this inward center.
– The following are the rhythms which St. Paul uses and suggests that we use them too. 1. Rhythm of Prayer, Supplication, Thanksgiving, Requesting (making yourself available to others), and Centeredness in God. The rhythms of life are to point us and nurture us in centeredness of God, in the context of God’s shalom – in which all human wholeness is experienced. They are not a method but a mode of being in God.
What spiritual practices or rhythms help anchor your being in God or your higher power? What makes you resilient?

This thought and resource is from a magazine called Weavings: A journal of the Christian Spiritual Life, Volume XXVIII, Number 2, “Resilience” (pgs. 31-14)

Anger is a human emotion that we all experience in our life.    We all have it – some good or bad, productive or violent.  Even our intense anger is not bad.  I have lived most of my life with anger.  Anger towards men and woman who did not treat me with respect and who took their anger out on me.  See there is a fine line between good anger and bad anger.  When we have gone through a trauma we get angry and we are hurt then we tend to take it out on others. Recently, I read a passage from Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankel, whose book is about his thoughts and his psychology on being in a concentration camp.   The men in the concentration camp were finally liberated as the war had ended (Page 89).  As a diver who comes out of the deep sea, the men from the concentration camp must come out slowly or they will endanger themselves.  So the men who are finally liberated from mental pressure can suffer moral and spiritual health. They become instigators and justify their own behavior by their own terrible experiences. I’m not saying I am a bad person or have taken my own ager out on others to this extent. Sometimes we do lash out at others in our rage.  Road rage comes to mind here.  I always wonder what’s going on with someone when I experience that.  I say a prayer for them.  I say a prayer for myself that I survived the rage of another unhurt.  Because I am unhurt.  As the men in the concentration camp, I can be guided back out of my anger, slowly. I need to be “guided back to the common place of truth that no one has the right to do wrong, not even if wrong has been done to them.” (Page 90) It has been a slow journey to heal myself and get over my anger towards others.  I have stumbled yet I have gotten back up.  My anger is now channeled positively through prayer or other actions.  There is a verse in the book of Malachi from the bible, where God is telling us to stay clear or we will see the rath of him.  This just means he is void of anything to do with destruction.  The irony is that the last verses are about the messenger who is coming to save us.  Doesn’t sound like we are being destroyed but saved from our own anger and destruction.  Listen to the Lord.  Let go of your anger.

I have lost my edge! Have you? How do you keep going on?
Recently, I have struggled with neck pain and now my stomach is bothering me. Instead of giving my sickness, aches and pains to the Lord, I have become obsessed with it. I think of nothing else but the pain I feel. I am tired, I am in pain and I am fed up. Did God ever tell us he was fed up with us? To get out of His kingdom? No, he continues to see thru all the garbage we throw at him and that we throw at each other. I have been throwing so much garbage out, I have lost my way, I have buried myself in it.
In the story of the talents which Jesus bestowed upon several men. Two of them increased their talents but the third man buried it. He gave his talent back without taking a risk to help himself. You can ask yourself, “What have I done with the light? With my gifts?
I have lost my talents and my way because I focused on myself, I became selfish. Each day is a blessing, your gifts are a blessing and they are to be shared with others. Don’t squander them or use them all on yourself. Be bold share your stories, your life and your talents. For those who give receive more in return. It’s funny how when I give myself to others my troubles and pain seem to diminish. [Be grateful]

Good morning God, how are you today? You know I am tired today because I did not give my anxiety to you. I worried and fretted over the past and the future. Ignoring the present with you. How silly we are? The people you created! We don’t listen and we worry about ourselves as if we have control. God I love you through and through even though I know that you love me more than I can ever imagine. Here I am on a silent retreat wanting to scream. Scream about all the injustices that have been done to me and others. Let me not exclude all of us in this world who have suffered from the cruelty of another. Let me not ignore another’s injustice is worse than mine. That my complaint cannot be anymore worse than anyone else or what your Son suffered for us. Let it be known that when we suffer an injustice it is not to become a victim rather there is a reason for that injustice. One must rise to the occasion and use one’s gifts as God intended to make sure others are not also afflicted by the injustice. So however slight or severe the injustice, one should answer their calling to take care of things according to the Lord’s will. We must discern over all our actions, knowing and feeling we are acting on God’s behalf for the great glory of the Kingdom. It is our responsibility to not worry or fret over these matters but have the compassion to move to action. And always give it to your higher power so you can right the injustice, move past it and move into the present. Amen.

The scripture below hit a cord in me, as I wonder what I am going to do with God today.  See God enters our soul, penetrating our very existence when we are open.  So often we are a closed book because it takes a lot of courage to  receive the work God has envisioned for us.   And we find ourselves struggling within because we are fighting God on what he has in mind.  We tend to be frightened or timid or insecure about our decisions.  Know that one needs to have confidence and trust to discern and reflect on God in order to render his works.  Let us find a way for God to enter our Soul’s, to let Him in and move us in the direction we are intended to go.  Let us find a way to be vulnerable and open so we can receive the vision in our lives.  Let us be patient so God can lead us in his time and not ours.  Let God enter your Soul so we can all be one in building the kingdom God intended for us to have on this earth.

Reading 1 Heb 4:12-16

The word of God is living and effective,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
penetrating even between soul and spirit,
joints and marrow,
and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
No creature is concealed from him,
but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him
to whom we must render an account.

Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast to our confession.
For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who has similarly been tested in every way,
yet without sin.
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.

Today, I spent time with a beautiful group of women who share their faith with others, their time, their struggles and their faith in God.  I started thinking of the following questions: Can I push my belief system on others?  Can I tell others what to wear? Can I tell others to join my religion? Then I started thinking of the 60 minutes show I watched on Sunday night.  There is an extremist in a small neighborhood community of England who wishes to walk the neighborhood until every woman is covered from head to toe and every homosexual is converted.  The extremist went as far as harassing the people who walked the streets.  He is of the thought to change their ways, into his ways which are for the betterment of the country.  I struggled with this although his intent seems to be for the common good and the dignity of the human person.

So I ask again, can we push our belief system on others? The answer is, no.  We can certainly live by example and nudge others in the right direction.  But most importantly, my wish is to lead people to Christ.  I think the way that we do that is not one of negativity but of positivity. If you are living a Christian life then it is a no brainer!  I happened upon this article about positive thinking and pulled the following excerpt from there:

Drama and judgments are a waste of perfect happiness. – Make a promise to yourself.  Promise to stop the drama before it begins, to breathe deeply and peacefully, and to love others and yourself without conditions.  Promise to laugh at your own mistakes, and to realize that no one is perfect; we are all human.  Feelings of self-worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible.  (Read The Mastery of Love.)

If you would like to see the entire article please visit their webpage: http://www.marcandangel.com/2014/02/23/15-powerful-beliefs-that-will-free-you-from-negativity/

Why do we celebrate the Saints? What are angels? Do we become angels when we die?

Frist, everybody knows Halloween which is also known as All Hallows’ Eve. So, what is “All Hallows?” It’s the old-timey name for All Saints Day, November 1. In the early days, Christians had to meet secretly and developed traditions of honoring the anniversary of local martyrs’ deaths. However, during the terrible days of persecution under such emperors as Nero and Diocletian, the number of martyrs became so great that a separate day could not be assigned to each. So, one day was established to remember them all. On the first recorded All Saints’ Day, St. Basil of Caesarea in 397 A.D. invited all the Christians of the province of Pontus for a feast honoring the dead.

After I found the article above which, Kay Stumbar, wrote years ago.  I started wondering what angels are.  Can we be an angel? Here is what I learned: An angel is a pure spirit created by God. The Old Testament includes the belief in angels, as angels appeared to key figures in the bible. The angels employed by God were the ministers of His will. The English word “angel” comes from the Greek Angelos, which means ‘messenger’. The Hebrew word for “angel” is malak, also meaning ‘messenger’. The prophet Malachi took his name from this word. He was himself a messenger, and he prophesied about the coming of “the messenger of the covenant”, Jesus Christ (Malachi 3:1).

Just a little trivia, someone recently asked how St. Michael the Archangel, can be a saint and an angel based on the above.  So the name Michael signifies “Who is like to God?” and was the war cry of the good angels in the battle fought in heaven against satan and his followers. The bible describes St. Michael as “one of the chief princes,” and leader of the forces of heaven in their triumph over the powers of hell. He has been especially honored and invoked as patron and protector by the Church from the time of the Apostles.

Well, I think I answered my own question.  I cannot become an angel even though I was created by God.  God’s angels in heaven are special agents who help carry out His plan and minister to those on earth who follow Christ.  We often say to each other when someone dies, “they are your angel in heaven.”  So our loved ones who are in heaven work with the angels to watch over us and guide us.  They give us comfort and know that we will rest with the Lord.  I look forward to the day when I will be in heaven with the Lord and have the honor to work with the angels to watch over you!