Looking for an earlier Watchword?
- Dialog With Jesus - A Dialog with Jesus: And Jesus says, just keep in touch. Don’t worry about the Prayers, they will come. The important thing is the communication, it’s the human, I created, reaching out to Me. Don’t worry about the Prayers, they will come. In My own time, they will come. Stay tuned, always stay tuned to Me, the Lord and your fellow man. Do not lose touch. Don’t worry about the Prayers, they will come as inspiration springs from thoughts and calls and compliments and criticisms, from feelings, from isolation and loneliness, and even from a loss, for, My Child, I know all of this. So, don’t worry about the Prayers, they will come. Continue reading
- Drawing A Blank - I sit here at my computer wondering what to say this morning. Nothing comes to mind. I think about all those encouraging words that I’ve heard, over the years, from a variety of sources. Nothing. I want to pass something on to you, almost anything, even a silly song! Still nothing! Then my eye rests on a little picture frame that holds something entitled “Creativity and Inspiration” that I wrote two years ago, a little 3-point mantra that I have used almost daily. The last of the three points is this – What would you have me write, Lord? Then a whispered voice from the back of my mind tells me ‘share this from Thomas Merton’... Continue reading
- Waiting On Me - Good morning. I pray that you had a good night’s sleep and that you are rested and ready to go to work. The hardest kind of work – keeping our loved one and ourselves in a peaceful, optimistic mood. The words of a song from long ago, one that we sang to our kids when they were bored and grumpy: Gray skies are gonna clear up, put on a happy face. Brush off the clouds and cheer up, put on a happy face... Continue reading
- Smarter than Smart - Last night I had a long and helpful conversation with a doctor friend of mine who is a senior pharmacist in a major hospital in the heart of Chicago. He is part of the Coronavirus network. In a matter of 20 minutes or more he brought me up-to-date on everything that he knew and all that he had heard regarding the spread of the virus. He emphasized its sensitivity and how easily it transmits one person to four, and then it multiplies from there. I know we have all heard parts of this, almost endlessly, over the past couple of weeks, and sometimes repetition can cause deafness. What my friend emphasized is that we must be smarter than our common sense may tell us, and smarter than smart. Please don’t miss that point. Continue reading
- Called by Name - As if in answer, Jesus tells us this morning: ‘This is a time in your life when you must learn to let go: of loved ones, of possessions, of control. In order to let go of something that is precious to you, you need to rest in My Presence, where you are complete. Take time too bask in the Light of My Love As you relax more and more, your grasping hand gradually opens up, releasing your prized possession into my care. You can feel secure, even in the midst of cataclysmic changes, through awareness of My continual Presence. Continue reading
- Pandemic Precautions - Tip of the day: The phone is safe to use! Wow, what a revelation! So, use it! Call a friend, a grandkid, one of the MIM guys. The chat will do you good and will do that person good to know you are thinking of them and supporting them. Remember, they are going through the same thing as you, and cabin fever is not fun! Wisdom from a Dove piece wrapper: Talk to people who make you laugh! Continue reading
- The Church is Dark - Here it is Sunday morning and I am at home, my church is dark, and maybe yours, too – but not our hearts for we learned long ago that church is within us. [...] This morning in my reading of Oswald Chambers I came across a series of sentences that applied directly to a book that I’m in the process of writing. It is a Christian fantasy. There are parallel storylines: one that follows the lives of mortals in a peaceful and loving community that is suddenly confronted with a tragedy, when a mine collapses killing three miners, leaving five children fatherless. The other story line follows a class of baby angels who are following the lives of the mortals and relating what they see to what Jesus has taught. Continue reading
- The Beginning - The email I sent out that Saturday, March 21st, was technically the first Watchword mailing. It went to just a small group – the 20 men from eight different congregations that made up the “Men in Mission” Bible study group, which I had long been a member of. We felt that – for what we then thought would be “the next couple of weeks” – it was important to honor the stay-at-home directive. But we still needed the support we extend to one another through our prayers and personal contact, which had always been the power of our group. Continue reading
