Christian Reflection and Prayer

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
     that both calamities and good things come?
     — Lamentations 3:38

 

We need to know that everything we experience
is good.

 

I love these verses from Psalms: “Surely the
righteous will never be shaken . . . They will have
no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast,
trusting in the LORD” (112:6–7). The righteous
don’t fear “bad” news because they know in their
hearts that nothing is truly bad. They recognize
that everything comes from God.

But how can we keep our hearts steadfast when
going through crisis?

 

Rabbi Nachman (18th century) taught that we
must use our mouths to declare our faith. Even
just saying “I believe” will give us strength to keep
going with faith. I want to encourage us all to
speak words of faith to ourselves and to others.
Let’s declare that no matter how things seem, we
know that God is in control and has a good plan
for us and for the world.

 

With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

Jim Wallis

Donald Trump has continued to shrug off his
condoning and bragging about sexual assault
on the ubiquitous Access Hollywood video —
which now many of our children have seen as
well via social media — as merely “locker room
talk.”

 

It was my oldest son, home for his fall college
break, who told me last Friday, “You need to
watch this Dad; it’s really disgusting and it’s
all over Facebook.” So I did watch it, and my
son was right: It is utterly disgusting to hear
Trump reduce women to property that he can
handle however he wants to.

 

My son is an 18-year-old college baseball
player, and a lifelong athlete who has been
in “locker rooms,” or in his case, dugouts and
the gyms, for his entire life. He said, “I’ve never
heard that kind of talk from any of my teammates
or fellow athletes … never.” My younger son, who
at 13 and also a baseball and basketball player,
confirmed that he had never heard any of his
sports buddies talk that way. I felt deeply offended
and angry, that my two sons couldn’t avoid hearing
Donald Trump boast about groping women and
laughing that because he was a star he could get
away with it; those words are now everywhere in a
video nobody can avoid.

 

Donald Trump was a 59-year-old man when he spoke
about women as mere objects for his sexual
gratification — and he is now the presidential
candidate of a major party for president of the
United States.

 

MY QUESTION IS DO WANT THIS PERSON AS
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff,
they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

 

For those of you who may have been on a distant planet for
the last decade, Justin Bieber is a singer. Actually, Justin
Bieber is a very rich, very successful singer who has grown
up in front of large crowds, screaming teenage girls, and
adults who don't quite manage to see what the big hubbub
is all about.

 

Although he seems to be getting things under control, his
public life has not been without a stumble or two.

Even so, recently Mr. Bieber received a glowing report from
the mother of a nine-year-old girl.

 

It seems that last May Mr. Bieber took time out of his busy
schedule and paid a visit to Kaylee Drew who was suffering
from acute myeloid leukemia. Stopping by the girl's hospital
room Mr. Bieber made that girl feel, at least for a while, first-
rate. Drew's mother wrote, "I need to make sure you know
how much you made her happy."

 

The mother shares, at the end, when Drew was unresponsive,
a Justin Bieber song played into her earphones managed to
make her smile.

 

Now I have to admit, Justin Bieber's songs don't get my feet
to tappin' and my hands a-clappin'. That being said, I have to
applaud and appreciate anyone who manages to brighten the
last days of a dying child.

 

If that is the case for a rock star who paid a one-time, short-
term visit to Kaylee, what ought to be the world's response
to the Savior?

 

You know, when Jesus enters an individual's life, it isn't for
a stolen moment or two. No, when Jesus comes, He comes
to stay.

 

That is why, over the centuries, He has been by the deathbeds
of the rich, the poor, the young, the old, the parents, and the
children. He has been there when death came quietly, and He
was there when death gave a long-time warning. Jesus was
there when the dying individual was alone, and He was there
for the person surrounded by a host of family and loved ones.

But there's more to be said about the Savior's presence when
a person dies.

 

We need to remember that when the physician is helpless and
the medicine is ineffectual, Jesus is doing some of His best
work. He who died so we might be forgiven and adopted into
God's family of faith is there to take us through the valley of the
shadow of death. He is present to assist the dying and comfort
the mourning.

 

He is there -- and because He is -- when death comes calling,
we need not be afraid.

 

THE PRAYER:

 

Dear Lord, the time is coming when I will leave this world. May
I be comforted by the knowledge that at that time I will not be
alone. On that day the Savior will take me to a reunion in heaven
that will never end. In Jesus' Name I give thanks. Amen.

(Lutheran Hour Ministries)