Perhaps you or someone you know are going through a crisis and you do not know who to turn to for solace. You have never relied on a particular church except on certain occasions back home, but it is miles away and you do not feel as if the Pastor at church anywhere/USA will understand your plight. Or you may have never gone to church.

Perhaps you have heard of chaplains but you are not sure whether he or she understands your denomination, beliefs, or you profess to have no faith at all. Then doubt chimes in and you hear, “What can a chaplain do for me? Let’s explore the possibilities.

Whether you are in the hospital, a nursing home, or other long-term facilities, a hospice, the military, a mental health center, a prison, or even the workplace, a chaplain can provide compassionate listening and nonjudgmental guidance at a time of physical or emotional stress. He or she can lead you to the peace and comfort that come from turning to your own traditions and reflecting on your own spirituality.

Listening is one of the most precious gifts a chaplain can offer. You may not know where to begin to comprehend the events happening in your life. You have grown used to being taken care of and now it is your turn to take care of someone. This can lead to many uncomfortable feelings. Helplessness comes to mind. The appearance of being insensitive and non-caring follows closely.

A chaplain can give you space to express whatever feelings you are experiencing. Having someone to lean on to relieve you of your worries or even whine to because you feel the least equipped to make a critical decision helps. Voicing your concerns may help you to see them realistically rather than allowing the emotions of the moment to blow things out of proportion.

A well-trained chaplain listens with her/his heart to your greatest concerns of the moment. This kind of compassionate listening keeps them from making mental judgments about you or what you are saying. They will keep the confidences you share right where they hear them–in their heart. Unless you have threatened to do harm to yourself or someone else.

As humans, the relationships we form with other people are vital to our mental and emotional well-being and even our survival. Having a circle of friends can provide a feeling of inclusion and acceptance. However, not every relationship is healthy. One must be able to discern the difference.

For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up (Ecclesiastes 4:10). Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm (Proverbs 13:20).

Making new friends can be challenging, however—particularly for those of us who are introverted, or as we get older, not so easy. I know a lot of people would not categorize me as an introvert because of my demeanor. It just happens that I have to work hard at not being so. “You can’t stay in the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” A.A. Milne, author

For instance, I do not believe that one can be a Christian by themselves. Being a Christian commands one to spread the good news. There are some warnings: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness (Corinthians 6:14).”

A toxic relationship is one that consistently undermines your sense of well-being, happiness, and at times safety. Occasional disagreements or conflicts are normal in any relationship, but a continual pattern of emotional harm, disrespect, and manipulation can lead to deterioration in mental and emotional health.

Some further warnings are mentioned. With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:2).

I trust my wife with my life. An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain (Proverbs 31:10-11).

Prayer is how we communicate with God and something we’re told to do continually (Thessalonians 5:17).

Many scriptures offer many insights into the nature of prayer. Talking with God reminds us that He is with us through (thick and thin), good and bad. We have peace awaiting us when we turn to God.

There are many daily tasks that we attempt that are challenging. We might be afraid of the outcome. I have found that praying before the start is more reassuring than waiting to pray after I have gotten started and met some challenges.

God can hear your thoughts. You can pray silently. But nothing in the world works more effectively than speaking out loud so that you can hear yourself asking for help. God knows that you need help but the whole purpose of prayer is so that you acknowledge the fact that you need help.

One might say, “If He knows everything why do I have to tell Him?” Sharing our news with God, even though He already knows all about us, is helpful as it shifts our focus and helps us think about Him.

Prayer is a conversation with God: Jesus taught that prayer should be a private conversation with God, not a public display.

Prayer should be offered regularly: The Bible encourages people to pray without ceasing, in every situation, and without giving up.

Prayer should be offered in faith: James 1:6.

Prayer should be offered in the name of Jesus: John 16:23.

Prayer should be offered in the power of the Holy Spirit: Romans 8:26

Prayer can bring many benefits: Prayer can help people get closer to God, improve their relationship with God, and receive guidance. It can also help people accept God’s will and keep them from temptation.

Prayer can be audible or silent: Prayer can be private or public, formal or informal.

The wicked have no desire to pray: Psalm 10:4.

The children of God have a natural desire to pray: Luke 11:1.

For some people, prayer is simply a religious ritual. However, prayer can be much more than that – it’s a way to get closer to God.

you are having fun. Our perception of time is not static. We have a selective perception of how time is passing based on circumstances and how we are emotionally affected by them. At certain times, such as when we are hungry, and waiting in the checkout line, time will seem to pass by more slowly, while at other times, more quickly.

This is the subject of the idiom ‘time flies when you’re having fun,’ which is also an English proverb. However, both time flies and time flies when you’re having fun are English idioms with slightly different meanings.

We all have accepted as fact that there are twenty-four hours in a day, sixty minutes in an hour, and sixty seconds in a minute. Time knows no respective person. Elon Musk does not get any more time than the common man or woman who only has a nickel in their pocket. The difference is how you use it.

Bible verses about time reveal God’s perspective on time and empower us to make the most of the time we have available each day. The Bible emphasizes that God works with time from an eternal perspective. Unlike us, God can clearly see how everything fits together for all time. Below are some scriptures that are often quoted.

1. Psalm 90:12 – “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

2. James 4:14 – “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeared for a little time, and then vanished away.”

3. Matthew 6:34 – “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

4. Psalm 31:15 – “My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.”

5. Ecclesiastes 8:6 – “Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.”

6. Psalm 39:4 – “Lord, make me know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.”

7. Psalm 37:23 – “The steps of a good man/woman are ordered by the Lord: and he/she delighted in His way.”

Sticks and Stones is an English-language children’s rhyme.  “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words shall never hurt me.” The rhyme is used as a defense against name-calling and verbal bullying, intended to increase resiliency, avoid physical retaliation, and/or to help one remain calm.

Never before, since I have been an adult, have I seen and heard daily, the mean and cruel things that adults have said to and about each other without provocation.  It is encouraged, and endless. The sad part of it is that our laws that have been around since the 1800’s, called slander if spoken, and libel if written do not seem to help prevent it.  Every now and then the the law helps.

Michael Mann, a professor of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of PA, has been awarded more than 1 million in damages after a trial in D.C. court. Michae Mann, among the world’s renowned climate scientists, won a defamation case in the D.C. Superior Court against two conservative writers. Feb 8, 2024.

Yet, for the most part, little is done to decrease it. Perhaps when this rhyme was conceived it was meant for children and not adults. It was once thought that children had the inner strength to ward off any hurt that was not physical. Now we know better.  

Several scriptures warn against such behavior. The Galatian believers had fallen into the habit of hurting one another with unkind words, so Paul warns, “If you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another” Galatians 5:15).

In the book of Proverbs, we are taught to never take the impact of words lightly, “For the tongue has the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21). What we say can either lift up or crush another. At its worst, cruel words can be a factor contributing to death. More especially if they are lies.

James describes how all types of animals have been tamed, but the tongue has never been tamed (3:6). It is uncontrollable apart from God. Then, he calls it a “restless evil” and a “deadly poison.” When calling it a “restless evil,” James is saying that the tongue never sleeps, and therefore, we must always be on guard with it.

In the third Gospel, Luke in the New Testament, it is clear that Luke had a particular concern for the little people, for the so-called no bodies in the world. Those who are hardly mentioned positively. The beloved physician records Jesus’s love for those who are neglected by the rich and the powerful.

The influential are identified by C.S. Lewis as the “inner ring—those who walk in the halls of power. But Jesus was particularly concerned about the outer ring, those who lack social prestige and influence. We by way of contrast, are inclined to give our attention to and serve those with influence and power, to praise those who have influence in the world, those who are celebrated in society; sometimes to our demise.  

They are spoken of as almost a nuisance. They are in the way of the other’s agenda. If we can step back and take notice, those who do not stand out are oftentimes, the ones who make society click. They are the ones who serve, also the ones who are more apt to be charitable toward the last the least, and the lost

The Stead Family Children’s Hospital sits next to the University of Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium. The children’s hospital, which includes a 12th-floor observation deck overlooking Kinnick Stadium, has also gained national attention for a tradition known as “The Hawkeyes Wave”, in which football players, officials, and fans wave to hospital patients en masse at the end of the first quarter of each home football game.

Krista Young and Levi Thompson inspired the tradition. Krista said the Children’s Hospital overlooking the stadium is such a great view. “The patients can see everyone in the stands and wave to them. So why not have the fans wave back. The wave of a hand is a simple gesture, often overlooked. Multiply it by 70,000 and you can warm the heart of an ailing child, bring a tear to the eye of a nation.”

Your compassion shown will not be in vain. Scripture makes it clear. The King will answer and say to them, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of these brothers/sisters of Mine, even the least of them, you did it for Me’ (Matthew 25:40).   

Are you an excessive worrier? Perhaps you unconsciously think that if you worry enough, you can prevent bad things from happening. But the fact is, worrying can affect the body in so many negative ways. It can lead to feelings of high anxiety and even cause you to be physically ill.

Chronic worrying can affect your daily life so much that it may cause headaches, upset stomachs, nausea, diarrhea, heart palpitations, fatigue, insomnia, low libido, breathing problems, muscle aches, and even high blood pressure (American Psychological Association).

“Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:25,26)

In June 1941, this prayer was published in an obituary in the New York Herald Tribune, and from here became known by the first Alcoholics Anonymous group. The organization embraced it and spread it widely. It was initially known within the group as “The AA prayer”, but by the late 1940s, was known as “the serenity prayer.”

“O God and Heavenly Father, Grant to us the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed; courage to change that which can be changed, and wisdom to know the one from the other, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.”

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”Stop worrying about things you can not control.

What I am trying to tell you, is to not be preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and how he works fuss over these things. But if you know both God and how He works. You will find all of your human concerns will be met. He knows what you need before you ask.

One positive learned from the pandemic is that we can accomplish what we thought we were never going to be able to do. Mainly, many adults were afraid of venturing out on cell phones and computers. I think security was the main fear. The most complicated feat tried on the cell phone or the computer can be done by a thirteen-year-old, some even younger.

We ask ourselves how is that possible? They are not afraid to make a mistake and we are. If they make a mistake, there are few negative consequences. After all, they do not have to repair it or pay for it. So, they are not afraid to experiment, thus learning afterward.

During the pandemic, we had no choice but to experiment. We were afraid to get sick and die if we socialized, afraid we were going to be evicted if we did not pay our bills on time, and yes afraid to not be able to seek medical attention. Thus, online skills were learned. Some have even gotten good at it.

When some churches began to close their doors because the members came to the conclusion that church folk died as well as unchurched, something had to be done about it. Lively-hoods would be lost and some would truly miss the fellowship. Something had to be done quickly. The churches that did not adapt folded. Some never re-opened.

This is why diversity is so important. We have to include all ages in our congregations. That includes crying babies, children, and youth services. The same media that was used to socialize before the pandemic was easy to adapt. As the joke goes, “The same folk.”

Four years later, Institutions have changed the way “church” is done. Many believers have become accustomed to churches without pews, sanctuaries without hymn books, and message outlines and songs projected onto large screens. You are encouraged to use your wireless device. This dispels the notion that you are doing otherwise.

Some have also recognized the need to change their methods of reaching out to non-Christians with the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is nothing wrong with that per se. However, we were created to be social beings; including introverts.

Who do you reach out to when they are off the air. I believe that you can not be a Christian by yourself. This good feeling I want to share and make it known to others. Tell them about my prior struggles before I came to Him, just as I was, weary, wounded, and sad.

Not everything is changing, however. Dr. M. R. De Haan wrote in the first edition of Our Daily Bread in 1956: “If there is one thing Paul insisted upon, it is that works have nothing to do with obtaining or retaining our salvation. We are justified by faith, and faith alone” (Romans 4:5; 5:1).

Modes and methods of worship may change. But salvation is through faith in Jesus alone. That will never change.

In my research for writing this post, I ran the idea through my daughter, “Are African Americans the only ethnicity that have family reunions?” She said no, they just don’t call it a family reunion.” Oh! In my 77 years, or since I can remember, I have never heard any other group say they were planning or going to a family reunion.

I have gone to quite a few, some I have enjoyed and others I have not. My wife has sponsored several. Her being the one who has a close-knit family is the reason why she enjoys it so much. Me, not so much. We can’t seem to agree. However, in my research, I have learned a lot. I was ignorant of the purpose. I am going to do better.

According to a piece written by Renee Mccoy, African American Elders, Cultural Traditions, and the Family Reunion, family reunions are important rituals that have long contributed to the survival, health, and endurance of African American families, helping to maintain cultural heritage even in uncertain and turbulent times.

Although there is variation in how African Americans hold family reunions these days, some key elements remain constant. One constant is that these events have the potential to generate such power, in large part, from the participation of the elders—the keepers of the African American legacy.

Instead of seeing elders as problems and inconveniences, make an effort to talk to them about their “good old days. They might be talking about the time when someone was in need and the community prevailed by giving assistance where it was needed. It may not have been money, but about being a good listener. We don’t take the time to do that anymore. If you do not text or use Facebook, or some of the other vehicles you might be left alone. 

Hurricane Katrina, which hit Louisiana should have taught us that you need to at least communicate with those family members that you know and try to find out about others.  Many families lost all they had and had to be uprooted and live with strangers. There were some good examples of positive relationships and some were not so good. They were strangers to the family with no connection.

My takeaway from the research is that it can be a positive event. We should talk about health issues and how we can prevent some of the suffering and deaths from not taking self-care seriously. Taking the advice of widely known preventions that are out there. Such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, and other cancers. High blood pressure, mental illness, and forgiveness.

Keep in mind, that this is not a time to widen the gap by bringing up unsolved hurt unless you are going to talk about healing. Forgiveness is not about letting the offender off the hook; it is about freeing your mind and spirit from the overload. Many times, the offender has already forgotten.