Ruskin was walking the streets of London lamenting that not a shred of country life was left in them.

“For these streets are indeed what they have built; their inhabitants the people they have chosen to educate. 

This fermenting mass of unhappy human beings – news-mongers, novel-mongers, picture-mongers, poison-drink-mongers, lust and death-mongers; the whole smoking mass of it one vast dead-marine storeshop –accumulation wreck of the Dead Sea, with every activity in it, a form of putrefaction.”

To soothe and recover from his visit to the city of vanity, he consoles himself back in the country when he notices an old woman and her pig – 

“I got some peace and refreshment by mere sympathy with a Bewickian little pig in the roundest and conceitedest burst of pig-blossom. His servant, - a grave old woman, with much sorrow and toil in the wrinkles of her skin, while his was only dimpled in its divine thickness – was leading him, with magnanimous length of rope, down a grassy path behind the convent; stopping, of course, where he chose.

Stray stalks and leaves of eatable things, in various stages of ambrosial rottenness, lay here and there. The little joyful darling of Demeter shook his curly tail, and munched; and grunted the goodnaturedest of grunts, and snuffled the approving’s of snuffles, and was a balm and beautification to behold, and I would have fain have changed places with him for a little while….”  

He then shares his thoughts about his home on a mountain – 

“On my own little piece of mountain ground, I grow a large quantity of wood-hyacinths and heather, without any expense worth mentioning; 

but my only industrious agricultural operations 

have been the getting of three-pounds-ten worth of hay, 

off a field for which I pay six pounds rent, 

and surrounding with a costly wall six feet high, 

to keep out rabbits, which consider it a kitchen garden, 

which, being terraced and trim, my neighbors say is pretty; 

and which will probably, every third year, when the weather is not wet, supply me with a dish of strawberries.” 

"My name's Raymond. I'm 73. I work the parking lot at St. Joseph's Hospital. Minimum wage, orange vest, a whistle I barely use. Most people don't even look at me. I'm just the old man waving cars into spaces.

But I see everything.

Like the black sedan that circled the lot every morning at 6 a.m. for three weeks. Young man driving, grandmother in the passenger seat. Chemotherapy, I figured. He'd drop her at the entrance, then spend 20 minutes hunting for parking, missing her appointments.

One morning, I stopped him. "What time tomorrow?"

"6:15," he said, confused.

"Space A-7 will be empty. I'll save it."

He blinked. "You... you can do that?"

"I can now," I said.

Next morning, I stood in A-7, holding my ground as cars circled angrily. When his sedan pulled up, I moved. He rolled down his window, speechless. "Why?"

"Because she needs you in there with her," I said. "Not out here stressing."

He cried. Right there in the parking lot.

Word spread quietly. A father with a sick baby asked if I could help. A woman visiting her dying husband. I started arriving at 5 a.m., notebook in hand, tracking who needed what. Saved spots became sacred. People stopped honking. They waited. Because they knew someone else was fighting something bigger than traffic.

But here's what changed everything, A businessman in a Mercedes screamed at me one morning. "I'm not sick! I need that spot for a meeting!"

"Then walk," I said calmly. "That space is for someone whose hands are shaking too hard to grip a steering wheel."

He sped off, furious. But a woman behind him got out of her car and hugged me. "My son has leukemia," she sobbed. "Thank you for seeing us."

The hospital tried to stop me. "Liability issues," they said. But then families started writing letters. Dozens. "Raymond made the worst days bearable." "He gave us one less thing to break over."

Last month, they made it official. "Reserved Parking for Families in Crisis." Ten spots, marked with blue signs. And they asked me to manage it.

But the best part? A man I'd helped two years ago, his mother survived, came back. He's a carpenter. Built a small wooden box, mounted it by the reserved spaces. Inside? Prayer cards, tissues, breath mints, and a note,

"Take what you need. You're not alone. - Raymond & Friends"

People leave things now. Granola bars. Phone chargers. Yesterday, someone left a hand-knitted blanket.

I'm 73. I direct traffic in a hospital parking lot. But I've learned this: Healing doesn't just happen in operating rooms. Sometimes it starts in a parking space. When someone says, "I see your crisis. Let me carry this one small piece."

So pay attention. At the grocery checkout, the coffee line, wherever you are. Someone's drowning in the little things while fighting the big ones.

Hold a door. Save a spot. Carry the weight no one else sees.

It's not glamorous. But it's everything." 

Let this story reach more hearts....

Credit: Mary Nelson

 

If you have a heart for the marginalized; when you walk downtown and the sidewalk surges with sorrow and loss, and human misery is evident in every face as you walk by the homeless, or a jail, or a nursing home, or whenever you see people in desperate need, and you sense the Holy Spirit prompting you to do something, but you feel completely inadequate, and simply have no idea what to do or say, here are some thoughts that may help.

No one in ministry began confident, not one. I think it's best, if possible, to join with another that is experienced, just tag along. I think this is especially important if you venture into areas that are dangerous. 

I read this by a woman who goes into strip-clubs, red-light districts and anywhere women are being exploited; I think what she says is so important. --- 

"I went not to rescue, but to witness.  Not to dominate, but to dwell. This trip had no agenda other than to occupy. 

And the moment a woman behind a glass window opened her door—and her heart—and invited me inside, closing the red curtain behind her, the assignment was sealed.

This wasn’t an easy trip." 

But it was a holy one.

Some conversations were brief.

Some were tender.

Some were divine disruptions I’ll never forget." 

These are comments made by Kelsey Decker about her trip to Amsterdam where she reaches out to the exploited women there.

I like that quote so much because we never know what God has planned, and if we simply go, with no pre-planned agenda, God will bring us someone we can help, how? We never know: but God orchestrates these divine encounters; all we have to do is make ourselves available. If we go trusting Christ, sensing His Spirit, and willing to step out, feeble as we feel, He will bring fruit.  

  

In an old and complicated structure of society, the number is multiplied of those who exist in a state of benumbed habit; who move through their years methodically, not needing to be more than half awake; who take their passage through life in an easy chair, and think no more of self-mortifying work than of the ancient pilgrimage on foot; and are so pleased with the finish and varnish of the world around them as to fancy demons and dangers all cleaned out. Thus the perfected methods of travel by plane and train, excellent as facilities for swifter activity—often have the effect of putting activity to sleep.

 I had church at the jail;

There were only three of us this week, 

one woman, let’s call her Joy, who I saw last week, who has a marginal faith, but is growing at warp speed! 

What a joy to see how the Lord is moving in her during her incarceration! 

The other woman, fortyish, let’s call her Faith, suffered from a brain infection, which I knew nothing about, so I looked up the symptoms online and now I understand what she was trying to explain.

Symptoms of a brain infection – 

Confusion and Disorientation:

Psychosis and Hallucinations: Many experience psychosis, involving difficulty distinguishing reality from delusions, or hallucinations (visual, auditory, or sensory perceptions that aren't real). These can lead to paranoid thoughts or irrational fears.

Personality and Behavioral Changes: Sudden shifts in personality, such as increased irritability, aggression, or withdrawal.

The woman seemed to have all these symptoms and although she is much improved, she was slow to form her thoughts, but has begun, for the first time in her life! To read the Bible, and she is absolutely captivated by it and it was such a joy, for all of us, to talk about her new faith and the love of Jesus.

The other woman, Joy, felt such compassion for Faith that at one point she told Faith that if she feels alone, or confused, or insecure, or whatever she may feel, that she will be there for her, and will help her in any way she can. 

I was overcome by her expressions of love, her budding faith had now found a place to attach itself, and it was the epitome of what church is supposed to be. 

The presence of God permeated the room with the fragrance of Christ.

What a joy, what an experience for me to be part of. 

Truly, it is better to give than receive; my paltry efforts to glorify Christ were met with a “rush of a mighty wind.”   

Better felt than told.

 

The way to a reprobate mind begins by - 

"The shrinking from difficulty, the dread of ridicule, the love of ease, which drains off the sap of a man's moral earnestness, soon dry up the sources of all moral faith from the very roots of him. Though in one sense it is true that he must believe before he acts, yet assuredly he will not long go on believing, when he has ceased to act. 

They plainly show, that any truth a man ceases to live by necessarily becomes to him, if he only persevere, an entire falsehood. God insists on having a concurrence between our practice and our thought. If we proceed to make a contradiction between them, he forthwith begins to abolish it: and if the Will does not rise to the Reason, the Reason must be degraded to the Will. This is no other than that "giving over of men to a reprobate mind," by which "the truth of God is changed into a lie." James Martineau.  

 

The battle of life is no longer a visible fight forced on us from outside, but an inner, unseen struggle we must willingly confront. 

It is not against flesh and blood, but against hidden forces that cling to us in the dark. 

To master our appetites, redirect ambition toward Christian holiness, restrain anger to serve justice, stir a sluggish will to honest work, awaken dull affections to joy, and rouse pity to purposeful action—all this demands vigilance, devotion, and endurance natural to the “good soldier of Jesus Christ,” but far beyond the reach of the skeptics and triflers of our age.

 

Here are the six mood changing hormones (neurotransmitters.)

• Dopamine → Motivation

• Serotonin → Mood stability

• Endorphins → Euphoria & pain relief

• Oxytocin → Connection

• Norepinephrine → Energy & alertness

• GABA → Calm

Here is how they work and how faith in Christ impacts them. 

1. Dopamine — Motivation & Reward

• Often called the reward neurotransmitter.

• Gives the feeling of anticipation, motivation, accomplishment, and “yes, that felt good — let’s do it again.”

• Released during:

o Achieving goals

o Novel experiences

o Exercise

o Healthy social bonding

Our new walk with Christ is a continual state of anticipation, motivation and accomplishment.”

Jesus said – “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Lk.6:38

He is explaining how joy will be our reward, and joy raises Dopamine like nothing else! 

Boost Dopamine by:

Small wins: Break tasks into tiny steps and check them off. (Dopamine loves completion.) 

Becoming a Christian gives us unending goals, pursuits and challenges.  Living in the kingdom of God makes every experience “Novel.” 

Each new victory is a “small win.” Each step forward, every obedience, every effort to trust, to step out in faith, to experiment with the promises of God, to put our trust in them, each day, each hour provides us with opportunities for joy and gladness. 

New experiences: Everything in the walk of faith is about “New wins.” We choose a new direction, a new way of thinking, a new way of acting, a new way of achieving 

Exercise: Even 10 minutes lifts dopamine. 

The Christian life is an active life! We worship, we sing, we fellowship, we serve, we engage the world by deeds of charity, love and hope. 

Creating something: Writing, art, or any kind of making.

If the Christian life is anything it is creative! The Holy Spirit living within us launches us out into the world, where every person we meet gives us opportunity to show the love of God. If by an act of kindness, we need to be creative; if by a word spoken at just the right time; if by sharing the sorrows of others grief, or sharing their joy, we have unending opportunities to creatively show the love of God. 

Healthy social bonding

Christ has joined us to His church; and in the church we join others to fellowship, to worship, and to serve Christ. The world is our mission place; the church is our launching pad. 

2. Serotonin — Mood Stability & Well-Being

• Often associated with contentment, emotional balance, and calm.

• Helps regulate:

o Mood

o Sleep

o Appetite

o Anxiety levels

• Sunlight, exercise, and certain foods influence serotonin pathways.

As a Christian we know that we are “loved with an everlasting love and held up by the everlasting arms;” nothing raises Serotonin more than being in the arms of Christ! We have His precious promises; His Spirit within us; the contentment that comes by seeing His Spirit remove the destructive hurts, habits and hangups from our life. The emotional balance we are patiently led into by His Spirit, where we learn to balance the pursuit of pleasure with our duties. Purpose clear, duties fulfilled, all lead to lower anxiety levels, better sleep and lifted moods. 

3. Endorphins — Natural Painkillers & Euphoria

Boost them by:

• Laughing: One of the strongest endorphin triggers.

• Exercise: Particularly running or brisk movement.

• Spicy foods: Chili peppers stimulate endorphin release.

• Dark chocolate: Small amounts help.

• Deep massage or stretching: Can trigger mild endorphin release.

Although the methods to boost Endorphins isn’t mentioned here, feelings of joy, gladness, and hope do stimulate the brain’s natural “feel-good” chemistry, including endorphins, but also several other key neurotransmitters.   

The Bible says the hope of the righteous is gladness, and the joy of the Lord is our strength.

And it says in Proverbs 17:22 “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine,”

4. Oxytocin – Bonding, Trust & Emotional Warmth 

Boost it by:

• Physical touch: Hugs, holding hands, or even petting a dog.

• Acts of kindness: Giving boosts oxytocin more than receiving.

• Meaningful conversation: Genuine emotional connection.

• Worship, prayer, or singing in groups (studies show oxytocin rises during communal experiences).

• Eye contact: Warm, non-threatening eye contact builds trust.

As I read over the causes for increasing Oxytocin, it’s obvious that all these methods to raise Oxytocin are integral parts of Christ’s church. Each one is a part of the kingdom of God, and in a healthy church, one should feel a rise in Oxytocin just in entering the church doors. 

5. Norepinephrine — Alertness & Energy

Boost it by:

• Cold exposure: Splash cold water on your face or take a 30–60 second cold shower at the end.

• Short bursts of exercise: Climbing stairs for 1–2 minutes.

• Challenging your brain: Reading something mentally stimulating or learning a skill.

• Deep breathing: Slow, strong breaths can increase alertness.

Within the methods to raise Norepinephrine, we see that “Challenging your brain” is a part, and certainly studying the Bible, learning to live and love as Christ did, as well as reading biographies of great Christians all have the ability to raise Norepinephrine. 

6. GABA — Relaxation & Calm

Boost it by:

• Slow breathing: 4–6 breaths per minute dramatically increases GABA activity.

• Prayer, meditation, or silent reflection: Calms neural pathways.

• Chamomile or green tea: Contains compounds that activate GABA receptors.

• Warm bath: Heat increases GABA activity in the brain.

• Magnesium-rich foods: Nuts, leafy greens, pumpkin seeds.

The disciplines of the Christian life, such as - prayer, meditation, silent reflection, are all significant and part of the normal Christian life. 

King David displays this silent reflection when he says -

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: Psalm" 139:23.

How much is too much? 

Play station, Netflix, scrolling reels, how much is too much? 

Is it sin? Is it harmless entertainment? 

How do I know? 

Questions like this fall under the category of "Christian liberty." 

There is no direct command, and their is no single answer for everyone, 

but we have the word of God to direct us in principle and example.

These are things we know for sure, over fifty times the Bible tells us 

there is an urgency, calling for readiness, repentance, or sober living.

Our wives are tempted in many ways to seek fulfillment in ungodly desires. We too, face countless temptations each day. 

Our children live in a world Jesus described as 

"An evil and perverse generation." 

So, as men of God, we have a limited amount of time to prepare them to meet the flood of temptations that face them now, and even more so, as they leave home. 

Building character in children and rearing them to be strong, independent, and deeply devoted to Christ demands many hours of consistent, intentional effort. 

So we must carefully measure the time we spend on pleasure. 

Shall I be truant? Shall I be playing games while the world and all of its evils are calling my wife, my children, and my very own soul to lean into darkness? 

Little by little, day by day, there are constant messages to compromise, to dabble, to investigate the the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

Every hour we spend in entertainment teaches our family how to live, how to redeem the time. 

So, do we have a goal, do we have a plan to rear children to be a light in this world? 

How then, do we accomplish this? 

"We must put our families first; but what is the true aim in raising our children? 

Is it to train them for themselves alone—closed in their own pleasures, armed only with knowledge that serves private interests?

Should not our first care be to breathe into them the spirit of Christians—giving them a generous concern for humanity, 

fitting them to live and even die for others? 

Should not our everyday speech awaken sympathy for the poor, the ignorant, and the fallen?

Should not the influences of home prepare them to go forth as benefactors of their race? 

This is Christian education." 

So, again, measure your time for recreation, which is good for us in the right quantities, a little does good like a medicine, but we must remember, the time is short, the days are evil, and we are responsible. 

 

Here is a very practical use of A.I. for those who engage in discussions online. 

I was criticized for a post I made, and, of course, I thought they were wrong, and misunderstood the point of the post, and were rude in their comments.

So, I energetically wrote my response as tactfully as I could and was about to hit "enter" when I thought, 

'I wonder if this is somewhat passive aggressive? 

Was there a barb to my response?

So I cut and pasted my response to A.I. 

asking it to remove or rewrite anything passive aggressive. 

Sheesh!!!!  The whole thing was!!!!! LOL 

The rewritten A.I. response was so gracious, and far more effective than what I wrote, I was truly amazed!

I want to be a gracious person, promoting unity even when discussing opposing views, but to be honest, I'm pretty defensive and, I'm beginning to see, very competitive.

 

  Each week I face a group of strangers at the service in the jail—a hardened lot, with pasts so horrific, survivors of such vicious abuse and oppression, that one can scarcely imagine living through it.

And there I stand, equipped with nothing but my prayer that Christ will fall upon every heart, that His Spirit will descend and bring life to hearts surrounded by walls so impenetrable that only God can prevail.

And He does. Hardened faces begin to grimace, lips, long trained to mock danger, start to quiver, heads bow, and eyes begin to water as a tear streams over a prison tattoo. Ferocity and bravado begin to be eclipsed by the Holy Spirit, and the inner child starts to push through all their resistance. A visible change takes place.

This—this is the power of prayer and the wonder-working, matchless love of Jesus.

 

 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles." Heb. 12:1-3

When I thought about this it made me think that we need the ancient "cloud of witnesses” but we also desperately need a living cloud surrounding us right now.

God has graced me with men and women in my association that are ablaze with God's Spirit, eager to serve Him, tireless in spreading His love in word and deed. Rescuing those entrapped in the jaws of wickedness and making no small effort to see them released! Wise and steadfast Christians that have endured so much and stood true. 

I'm reminded of oldest son who has faithfully pastored the spiritually hungry, the least, last and lost, the afflicted and tormented, the poor, the refugee and those bound up in Satan's clutches, and doing so for over thirty years! 

My middle son who resisted God's grace for a long season only to have Christ fall on him, and lit an unquenchable fire in his bones; and now he ministers Christ to those in the desperation of substance abuse. 

My youngest son, who walked straight into the darkest lairs of child trafficking, risking his life to snatch innocent children from predators’ hands.

I’ve watched as his son, my grandson, who followed his father's footsteps entering the dangers of war to help rescue the wounded from the front lines of battle midst the chaos and danger. 

And I think of his friend, who trained to be a medic where she too, braved the bombs and bullets to give lifesaving aid to the wounded and maimed, many of which would have surely died without her brave, skilled hands as she attended to the horrors of war; only to be nearly killed by a bomb blast that left her terribly disfigured and had died but for the advocacy of my family. 

These are my living "Clouds of witness" that surround me, as well as many others that have shown the way of courageous faith, setting aside gain and safety to reach others for Christ. People that have lost their lives! Lost their health, and stood unshakeable in life's dangers and griefs, patient, devoted in sickness, affliction and harrowing danger. 

  Iron sharpens iron, faith bequeaths faith, so seek out those who burn to obey the high calling of Christ. Run to them. Join them. Step into that cloud—ancient and living—and become part of the witness yourself. 

Let us throw off every weight.

"Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us". 

 I watched a movie about the loss of a child, and this remark really struck me as two grieving parents talked about their loss --- 

“Will the hole in your heart ever get smaller? 

No, it never does, 

but the person we lost leaves us with so much, 

we grow; 

and with time, the hole becomes proportionally smaller.”

 

 

You will many earnest-hearted Christians cast all their religious passion and spirit, which was meant by God to support them through all their serving and charitable work, into grievous and vain meditation over the meaning of the Bible, of which 

no syllable was ever yet to be understood but through a deed.”

John Ruskin. 

 

 

 

"Words can't accurately convey the anguish that a traumatized person experiences. It has an intensity that defies description. Many traumatized people feel that they live in a personal hell to which no other human could possibly share. 

Here is a condensation of what severely traumatized individuals struggle with: 

I don't know of one thing I don't fear. I fear getting out of bed in the morning. I fear walking out of my house. I have great fears of death...not that I will die someday, but that I am going to die within the next few minutes. I fear anger.. my own and everyone else's, even when anger is not present. I fear rejection and/or abandonment. I fear success and failure. I get pain in my chest, and tingling and numbness in my arms and legs everyday. I almost daily experience cramps ranging from menstrual-type cramps to intense pain. I have headaches, I feel nervous all the time. I have shortness of breath, racing heart, disorientation and panic. I'm always cold, and I have dry-mouth, and trouble swallowing. I have no energy or motivation, and when I do accomplish something, I feel no sense of satisfaction. I feel overwhelmed, confused, lost, helpless and hopeless daily. I have uncontrollable outbursts of rage and depression." 

Waking the Tiger, healing trauma. Peter A. Levine.

In my estimation as a Christian, complex trauma with such extreme symptoms cannot be healed without qualified therapy. Christ will walk through it with us, enlighten, encourage, inspire and soothe the soul in desperation as He promised -Isaiah 41:10

 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you;

Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,

Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

 

 Jesus used a woman in the "Parable of the Lost Coin" as a metaphor for God.

A female image of God would incite anger from the Pharisees.  

Here's the parable - Luke 15:10 - "Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?" 

God was never depicted as female in Jewish tradition. There is no known precedent in the Hebrew Scriptures or contemporary Jewish literature for portraying God as a woman.  

To compare the Most High to a poor Galilean housewife searching for a coin would have struck many as irreverent at best, blasphemous at worst. Portraying God as a woman sweeping her house subverted both their theological imagery and their social hierarchy. 

Far from being a casual detail, it was a deliberate rhetorical move by Jesus to confront religious pride and reveal that God’s joy over repentant sinners transcends human categories of gender, status, and honor. 

  

 Here is a vivid poem about the struggle of divorce.

"They mourn, but smile at length; and, smiling, mourn:
The tree will wither long before it fall;
The hull drives on, though mast and sail be torn;
The roof-tree sinks, but moulder on the hall In massy hoariness;
the ruined wall stands when its wind-worn battlements are gone;
The bars survive the captive they enthrall;
The day drags through though storms keep out the sun;
And thus the heart will break, yet brokenly live on.
Even as a broken mirror,
which the glass in every fragment multiplies;
and makes a thousand images of one that was,
The same, and still the more, the more it breaks;
And thus the heart will do which not forsakes,
Living in shattered guise,
and still, and cold, and bloodless, with its sleepless sorrow aches,
Yet withers on till all without is old,
showing no visible sign,
for such things are untold."
Lord Byron.

In the context of divorce, it's a testament to how the institution may dissolve on paper, but the emotional architecture "stands when its wind-worn battlements are gone," enthralling the captive long after the bars are meant to fall."

"I’m not advocating for divorce, but I am not advocating for prolonging something that needs to be dealt with honestly and bravely.
 
There are many seasons of life that I wish I would have been braver and most of those matters revolved around endings, more so than beginnings.
 
We know how to start, way better than how to end, but both are a part of life.  
 
Just remember to give your children the best YOU they can have, and if that isn’t possible, then do whatever it takes to get there, no matter how dark it may be to let go of the dock.”
Pastor Eric.