JUST A MOMENT PLEASE

Today’s Scripture: PSALM 148

Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created. He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away.

Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. He has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the Lord.

JUST A MOMENT PLEASE

We are on vacation right now and our daughter, Terri, will be posting my blogs the next three weeks. (Thank you Terri.) This means I had to get them written before we left. As we were planning this vacation, I remembered another vacation. A few years ago, when, once again, vacation plans changed.

If we could have seen into the future, we would have known what to do. Lacking that ability, we did the best we could. It was vacation time and the vacation was planned around a wedding, in North Carolina. When Hurricane Isabel entered the picture, we had a decision to make. Do we head into a hurricane? The answer was no. We removed the dress and suit, put in a couple of sweatshirts, headed west and had a great vacation. Guess what. The hurricane went north of the wedding. We missed a celebration. This Mary’s Moment has two topics – One topic is that you make the best decision you can, with the information you have and then say – “Oh, darn.”

The other topic is “Mary has a new pet peeve.” My old crusades were “Put that shopping cart away” and “My name is Mary or Ma’am, not sweetie, dear, darling or honey.” I have a new battle now – “TURN THAT CELL PHONE OFF.”

Can you believe it? We went through Yellowstone National Park. We saw buffalo, elk, trees, waterfalls – and people talking on cell phones. We were in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We enjoyed art galleries, the Teton Mountains, great restaurants, relaxing cups of coffee – and were besieged by people talking on cell phones. We saw two women shopping, each on the phone talking to someone else. We saw parents talking on the phone and ignoring their children. We saw couples, one on the phone while the other stared off into space. We saw people try (try being the key word here) to drive, talk on the phone and take notes. Now they made us feel safe.

I know, I know, phones are handy. We can stay in touch. I agree, to a point, but the use of cell phones is getting way, way out of hand. Do we really need to be “available” all the time?

Put the phone down. Turn it off. You might just enjoy a sunset. Talk to your family. Value the time you have with a friend. See a show. Enjoy a meal. Or you might actually see the buffalo, elk and mountains.

Time to get off my soapbox and – oh, gotta go – the phone is ringing. (Just kidding.)

I hope this makes you stop and think about what you might be missing. What in your life is keeping you from enjoying the company of a loved one or friend? What is standing between you and seeing the buffalo? Or the sunset? Or the clouds?

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

What has a grip on you that keeps you from enjoying all of life? (A few ideas: Phone, Computer, TV sports/soap operas/etc, Too many committee meetings, Shopping) What are you missing out on?

Please use this as a beginning of your prayer. Finish in your own words, words from your heart.

Let us pray

Dear God, Are you listening? Do you hear me when there are so many praying? You created such a wonderful world and I am just walking through it. Many times, I have set the wrong priorities and ignored what is important. Help me to use my time wisely. Help me to put people before things. Help me ………………………………… Amen