No Division

In Jesus, no division existed between his words and his actions, between what he said and what he did. In Him the night and the day are both alike. Can we have the same fidelity? Can our yeah be yeah and our nay be nay?  If we live the Word we speak, not the word of secular culture, miracles would happen. Walk toward the light of Him, walk toward hope, truth, mercy, compassion, forgiveness.  Image: Walking Toward The Light, Katia von Horn Artist Description:Mystery man walking on a road into the light. Shadows cast in all directions. Painted on black canvas, highlighting the man's silhouette against the sun. Artist webiste: https://www.artpal.com/kvonhorn

Change

The trees are releasing their leaves slowly in multicolored wisps on the wind. I am being called to release parts of the past in order to move ahead to the next season as well. Will it be done with the grace and glory of the autumn trees, each falling leaf a dazzling offering of what was and what might have been, could have been, should have been? The coming winter in all its frozen blow will create the space for rest, then ready for another chance, a new hope will arise.

Lies, Lies,Dreams, Dreams

Lies, Lies,Dreams, Dreams

                                           El Lahun, Pyramid of Senusret II, Egypt

                                           Photographer: Einsamer Schütze

A pagan Pharoah, believed to be Senusret II, slept fitfully. A troubling dream woke him and caused him deep concern. Even in the morning it was still vivid, not like the other crazy dreams he had that always vanished with the morning light. This one was different and hauntingly different. Over breakfast he spoke to his staff about this and the possible meaning. Something he ate or an omen? 

Through a series of inquiries the royal assistants learned about Joseph’s ability to accurately interpret dreams and sent for him to appear before Pharoah. Where was Joseph summoned from? A place called rock bottom or the pits, a jail cell; unjustly incarcerated by a false accusation. 

A lie sold Joseph into slavery, another false witness led to his incarceration. 

                                           Egyptian Bronze Age Prisoners

God spoke to a king who revered Horus, Anubis and Ra through a dream interpreted by a Hebrew prisoner. God used a pagan king to elevate this prisoner from a Bronze Age jail. Two men met by Divine appointment. Two nations saved from famine, Joseph and family reconciled. (Genesis 41)

Jesus, late Iron age rabbi, was also lied about, mocked, crucified then sealed in a tomb.  It was hoped that with the closing of the stone seal on the grave opening that the mouth of the teacher would be silenced forever. God used a former prostitute to discover that the rabbi had risen from the dead. "Mary don't touch me," Jesus said when Mary Magdalene naturally reached out to him. " I have not yet returned to my Father," the Living Christ replied. She was charged to go and tell the Good News to the grieving disciples, Mary the woman who would have been stoned for adultery from whom demons were driven out became Mary, the first evangelist,  John 20:15-18.

Because of lies, deceit, mockery or abuse the potential given us by God may be bound in grave wrappings and sealed.  Hopes, dreams trampled on the ground by the very people who proclaim righteousness but pile on stones of judgement. Jesus proclaimed he came to set the captive free. A rocky tomb sealed with a boulder could not silence Christ. God has the final Word. Believe, Mary did.

Luke 4:14-20

4 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 

    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Clara Ward, I'm coming to your house today to do an extreme make over.

“Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark,” says George Iles and in today’s scripture reading we heard the story of a woman plagued by a health condition who had gone from doctor to doctor hoping she would regain her health. Instead, as the years went by, she became poorer spending money for cures that did not work. She heard that Jesus would be coming through her town and pushed into the crowd that had thronged around him. She pressed in to get closer, thinking that if she could just touch some part of him, she would be able to make a connection with whatever power he had to heal. She got close enough to reach through grabbing a piece of Jesus’s robe as he was passing by. Jesus, feeling healing power leaving him, began to look around and asking the disciples “who touched me”? With so many people, it was impossible to tell. The woman realizing he was searching for her knelt before him, fearfully telling him she was the one who had touched him. Jesus totally surprised her. He told her that because she had the faith to hold her hand out when the future seemed dark and hopeless, she was healed. He blessed her, and sent her on her way.

In Erie lives a woman who held her hand out in faith, hoping her letter to the producers of Extreme Home Makeover would be chosen. Her name is Clara Ward. She has lived a life dedicated to helping kids at the former Youth Development Center for Abused and Neglected Children. Her goal has been to "Make...a better place for them so that their lives can be fulfilled” she said. “I don't want these kids to be on the streets, I don't want these kids going hungry, I don't want these kids to have to look for someplace to go." So Clara opened her heart and her crumbling home to these youth, feeding, clothing, teaching and caring for them in spite of being wheelchair bound by a chronic illness.

That selflessness in the face of her own serious health issues impressed the Extreme Makeover Home Edition folks so much so that now her home and her life is currently being transformed. The Extreme Home Makeover people are in Erie now building her a new wheelchair accessible home on the lot where her former home stood on East 21st. street so she can continue to live in her neighborhood and care for the local children.

We hope for good things like Clara did and cannot be sure of getting them. Being unsure, sometimes we begin to worry when we feel we can’t control the future. Worry is not always a bad thing, it can cause us to be cautious and wise instead of reckless as we go about our lives. Clara wisely put her faith into action and wrote that letter asking for help. If we ever discover we no longer worry we may discover that we have become either bitter without hope, or better. Clara did not let the situation of her crumbling home make her bitter, she continued the volunteer work as best she could and prayed for a solution to her housing problem. God’s answer to her prayer is happening this week as a team of builders construct her new home in one hundred and six hours.

When we remember difficult times in the past or the hopes that have come to fruition in our lives, we gain the assurance that God will continue to work things out in his perfect way and is able to do it. We remember that God doesn’t indulge us with every wish our heart desires, but will give us all that he has promised. There are over 1,000 promises that can be found in God’s Word. We can rely on these promises when we need comfort and assurance. If you include any of God’s promises in your prayers then you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you are praying in God’s will! If God says it, then it is already true! If it is already true, then it will happen! Are you getting excited? Consider just five of these promises and like the woman who reached out and touched Jesus hem, reach out and claim these promises when you pray:

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (John 15:7)

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus". (Philippians 4:19)

“ Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Is 41:10

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God
and are called according to his purpose for them.(Romans 8:28)

and finally,

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." -- Romans 8:38-39

Hope For the Future/PTSD

The entire family is affected when a family member experiences physical or psychological trauma and suffers posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result . Although the trauma was directly experienced by only one family member, other family members may experience shock, fear, anger, and pain in their own unique ways simply because they care about and are connected to the survivor. Living with someone who has PTSD does not cause PTSD, but it can produce "vicarious" traumatization because whether the family members live together or apart, PTSD affects each member of the family in several ways with feelings of hurt, alienation, frustration, or discouragment to name a few. If the survivor loses interest in family or intimate activities and is easily angered or emotionally distant and detached, the rest of the family often ends up feeling angry or distant toward the survivor, especially if he or she seems unable to relax and be companionable without being irritable, tense, anxious, worried, distractible, or controlling, overprotective, and demanding.

Even if the trauma occurred years ago, survivors may act as if the event never stopped happening. They are on-guard, easily startled or enraged. Family members can find themselves avoiding activities or people and becoming isolated from each other and from friends outside the family. They may feel that they have no one to talk to, and that no one can understand. Having a cooperative discussion with the survivor about important plans and decisions for the future, can be difficult because that loved one feels that there is no hope or future to look forward to. Listening and concentrating is difficult for them when they are distracted, tense, anxious, or because they become angry and suspicious toward others. In discussions about personal or family problems, the trauma survivor can become either controlling, demanding, or overprotective or unreasonably anxious and fearful about problems becoming terrible catastrophes.

The other family members may become overinvolved with their children's lives due to feeling lonely and in need of some positive emotional feedback, or they may feel that the partner can't be counted on as a reliable and responsible parent. The partner may also feel that they must be the sole caregiver to their children, if the survivor is uninvolved with their children, (often due to trauma-related anxiety or guilt) or is overly critical, angry, or even abusive. They may find their sleep disrupted by the trauma survivor's sleep problems (reluctance to sleep at night, restlessness while sleeping, severe nightmares, or episodes of violent "sleepwalking." And they may find themselves depressed as well.

Trauma survivors with PTSD often struggle with intense anger or rage, and can have difficulty coping with an impulse to lash out verbally or physically -- especially if their trauma involved physical abuse or assault, war, domestic or community violence, or being humiliated, shamed and betrayed by people they needed to trust. Family members can feel frightened of and betrayed by the survivor, despite feeling love and concern.

Addiction exposes family members to emotional, financial, and (less often, but not uncommonly) domestic violence problems. Survivors experiencing PTSD may seek relief or escape through alcohol, nicotene or other drugs, or through addictive behaviors such as gambling, workaholism, overeating or refusing to eat (bulimia and anorexia). The survivor is dependent ("hooked") on the habit or behavior and can't cope without it. Being judgemental and punitive only adds to the anxiety and makes the addictive behavior worse.

Trauma survivors with PTSD are more likely to think about and attempt suicide than other people who are not suffering from PTSD. For the family there is good and bad news in this respect. The good news is that very few trauma survivors, even those with PTSD, actually attempt or complete suicide. The bad news is that family members often must deal with the survivor's feelings of discouragement, depression, and self-blame and loathing.

What can families of trauma survivors with PTSD do to care for themselves and the survivor? As a family member, I advise, take care of yourself first. You cannot give water to a thirsty soul if the well is dry. Cultivate first and foremost your relationship with your Heavenly Father, make sure that vertical relationship is always firmly maintained. Find a supporive church family with an open mind and heart. Go, attend, even if your significant other won't. You need the support if you are going to be theirs through this storm. Find others and network through grassroots organizations such as Nami, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Become an advocate, you do not need to hide or be ashamed or lurk in the shadows. You would be amazed at how many other families are suffering silently and trying to "keep up appearances", don't worry about what other people think. Remember that it can happen to anyone given the circumstance, "there but for the grace of God go I". Take care of yourself, read a book, exercise, have a cup of coffee with someone you care about. Talk to a counselor for support, even if your loved one won't go, you go, for you. Think of it as a mental health spa. If there is an addiction problem there are groups like AA and Narcotics Anonymous to name a few. God will guide you through this wilderness, trust in Him.

You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.-Jeremiah 29:13

We cannot do great things on this earth. We can only do small things with great love. -- Mother Teresa