Provisions for Moral Moments

We all have stuff going on. So I laughed out loud at a Mother Goose and Grimm cartoon that's headed for my refrigerator door. Ralph, the Boston terrier, says,"I woke up feeling like a million bucks! How about you?" Grimmy replies,"I woke up feeling more like insufficient funds."

So, how are you feeling today?

Well, for starters, it feels good to be home. Good times with family, abundant Arizona sunshine, palm trees and flowers warmed my body and soul. Still, there's no place like home. My neighbor, Judy, just stopped by with a "Welcome Home" card and a yellow Gerbera Daisy. The plant and good neighbors are like sunshine, no matter how stormy life gets.

And, you and I know, it's a stormy time in our country and world. It's leaving a lot of us feeling like we're suffering from insufficient funds. And I'm not just talking about retirement accounts. So much unpredictability creates anxiety. And fear is hard on body, mind and spirit. So how do we find peace in the storm? Not peace from the storm. Storms happen. We're not immune.

Well, for me, it's important to realize times like these are opportunities. Like Senator Cory Booker reminded us in his marathon speech on the Senate floor. "This is a " Moral Moment." Sometimes, silence is golden. But other times, it's cowardice. There are many ways to speak, however. But the most enduring way is through our actions.

So, as Palm Sunday nears, remember the mark of our Christian faith is not how loud we cheer come Sunday, surrounded by our own kind. Our Moral Moment comes Monday and the days that follow. The days when we feel we have insuffiencient funds for the demands, choices and challenges of the day. Days when we feel like we have more hate than love, and more fear than hope. Those days when we feel more beat down than built up. That's when we turn to the One who never turns away from us. Jesus.

Truth be told, we who are followers of Jesus, don't suffer from insufficient funds. We have insufficient love for God and each other and insufficient trust in the God who provides. But don't trust my words. Trust God's through the apostle Paul:

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Then Paul adds, "And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus." ( Philippians 4:6-7 and 19,NLT)

So pray, trust Jesus and take courage from the truth that we have all we need to Faith this moral moment in our country. And enough for those momentous choices no one knows about but God and you.

Jesus is praying, too.