When I saw this photo, aside from it's startling beauty, I thought, 'it just breathes with God's majesty and hidden truths.' 

Surely there are many sermons suggested here. Such contrasts! 

When I was volunteering at the Union Gospel Mission at lunch, I would often write about my experiences; this was written one year ago.--

"Another young woman in her mid twenties came in for lunch at the mission and she was average looking, very lean and using heavy. She was doing what they call the "flail" which is moving about in a way that her body is difficult to control, not as though she were drunk, but it almost looks like the behavior of someone with M.S.

She was clothed in the most distressing manner; clothes dirty and messy, and her pants were unbuttoned and drooping off of her to the point she was exposed. She had the street grime on her feet and hands and I felt I just had to help her in some way and I asked one of the staff if we had a belt for her. We didn't but I realized it was impossible for me to do anything because she wasn't coherent and I'm sure she would have become combative if I had tried to help her in any way. I looked for a female volunteer but to no avail. So, I handed her the lunch and watched as she reeled and lurched her way out. Here I was right in the building where she could find safety, shelter and counsel and I was impotent to do anything. She just haunted me and her state of vulnerability was so perilous I just couldn't imagine her going a day without suffering some brutal attack. I found myself wondering whose daughter this was and the blood chilling horror they would feel if they saw her in this condition.

The following day, and for a week now, she has been on my mind. We hear of people that are found dead and castaway in the city from time to time and I realized she may well be in one of those reports. So I write her story to help me remember to pray for her because I know at some point my memory of her will fade and she will become just one more nameless person on the streets. Oh God, help keep her safe.

 

This hibernating snapping turtle just woke up. When I saw this it made me laugh and I thought, "This reminds me of what some of our Bibles look like! Time to clean 'em up and get back in the Word! 

John 15:8

"My Father is glorified by this, that you bear MUCH fruit, and so prove to be My disciples."

 When I saw this photo it moved me so deeply; I imagine this teacher in some remote, poverty stricken part of the world, dedicated to teach even though his class has but one small boy in grinding poverty. 

Oh Lord! Take this man's sacrifice and this young boy's mind, and create something beautiful!  

   "Have I not wept for the one who's life is hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?" Job 30:25

When I saw this picture it reminded me of how important it is for our children to be taught to be involved in the works of Christ. Sunday School can be so productive with a little imagination. Here are some ways we can sensitize our children to the needs of others. 

When there are natural disasters we can, in an age appropriate way, talk about it sharing photos, and plan to spend the month doing something about it. We can make some art works and sell the in the church foyer one Sunday, and send the money to a sister church in the area of the disaster to help fund emergency items. When parents know what the paintings are for they will be supportive and this could also be done in front of a Dept. store with some informative signage; I think it's a good testimony, and if student initiated, I think the public would donate by way of buying a picture. The same can be done with a bake sale, car wash or any craft done in class. 

Here are some other ideas for projects -- 

Letters to service men and women. Child trafficking project; local refugees; support and orphan through the church or organization; help single parents in the church, also widows, sick or shut-ins with gifts or correspondence. Support letters for missionaries supported by the church, and peruse the newspaper for prayer projects etc.  

"We all growl like bears, and moan sadly like doves."  Is. 59:11

Injustice, oppression, abuse cause us to rage without, while within our hearts mourn. 

 

  Most victims of abuse have no one, absolutely no one to have their back. God has His "Sons of thunder" and I can't think of a better place they could be. 
 

   "Love, in the Christian system, is not a power by which I am to claim brotherhood with humanity when humanity has reached my standard of moral purity; it is a power by which I am to claim brotherhood with men in their impurity, and through which I am to struggle to make them pure.

I am to realize the fact that those who are lying by the wayside, unworthy to join in the march of life, are still, even in their prostration, my brothers and my sisters, they are still members of the same family of which I am a member, they are still legitimate objects of my solicitude and of my care." George Matheson.

Home mission work, mercy, it is a struggle! Victims of abuse, sexual assault, combat and other horrid traumas require a full draught of grace, but God abundantly supplies those who work the mission here at home in the mission halls and on the streets.  

  

   I've been a Christian for over fifty years now, and God has rescued me from my wallowing in sin by many methods. His great love, Christ's forgiveness, the Holy Spirit's power, the protection of angels, the faithful pulpit and the congregation of saints; but there have been many rescues that came dressed in garb I would have never expected. The helping hand of God is not limited nor too short, and sometimes He sends the most unlikely deliverer. Be on the look out for the donkey or.......

 Jesus said, "When you give a banquet,  invite the poor, crippled, blind and lame, and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." 

Dress accordingly...... 

 

 

  When I read this it reminded me of a quote I posted years ago -- 

“For majesty and beauty of subtle influence, nothing is comparable to the soul. Not the sun hanging upon the horizon has such power for flower and fruitage as has a full-orbed Christian heart, rich in all good influences, throbbing with kindness and sympathy, radiant as an angel. Great is man’s skill in handling engines of force; marvelous man’s control of winds and rivers; wondrous the master of engines and ideas. But man himself is greater than the tools he invents, and man stands forth clothed with the power to control and influence his fellows, in that he can sweeten their bitterness, allay their conflicts, bear their burdens, surround them with the atmosphere of hope and sympathy. N.D. Hillis.

 

 

 

 WHO SAID - 

 "I was homeless, both hungry and thirsty, poorly clothed, considered the scum of the world, the dregs of all things and roughly treated."?  

We never know a person's story until we befriend them. Nearly every homeless person has a story of severe tragedy. Many are Christian brothers and sisters; and many more will be homeless because of Covid and the rampant fires on the west coast. The quote above is by the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 4: 11-14 

In verse 14 he says, "I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children." 

 This is humorous and we can all relate to some degree, but in the lives of victims of adverse childhood circumstances it can become the default reaction to everyone, stranger or not. Without the foundation of a loving, nurturing and supportive home, we can see each stranger as a potential threat and another in a line of continual disappointments and betrayals.