Are These the Best That Can Be Offered?

I did not listen to the Presidential Candidates debate last evening. I suppose this means that I need not be making judgements but, nevertheless, here is my opinion.The morning news reports that Biden did not do well. I did not think the “debate” would really be a debate but an argument, like school kids arguing on the playground. My concern is "Are these two candidates the best the two political parties have to offer the USA?" Surely there are more capable and moral individuals who can offer leadership for our country. Lord, in Your mercy.

How Much Is Enough?

The gospel writer, Luke, describer Pharisees as “lovers of money” (Luke 16:14, NRSV). If that is one of the descriptions of pharisees then I think they may be of both the conservative as well as liberal branch of humanity. I think a “lover of money” may want more of it than they need. A “lover of money” may think it is security and therefore refuse to let go of any. Both have a characteristic of hoarding. As a psychotherapist, I often ask someone who seems preoccupied with money, “How much is enough?” If we have not prayed and thought about that question, we may not know how much is enough which sets us up for insecurity, greed and hoarding.

Go Inside And Ask

“Quietism, a doctrine of Christian spirituality that, in general, holds that perfection consists in passivity (quiet) of the soul, in the suppression of human effort so that divine action may have full play”. (Google) This was a belief in the 1600’s which was later deemed a heresy. I heard of a man who went up and down the main street of his hometown looking for work. When someone asked why he was having such a difficult time finding a job, he replied that no one had a sign in their window. His friend replied, “You have to go inside and ask if they are hiring.” In the next few days, he went inside asked about a job and was hired. Yes, God is at work and does wonderful things for us, but we still must go inside and ask. I believe there is mutuality at work. It is not the belief that God helps those who help themselves, but we follow the leading of God’s Spirit through prayer and then we must “go inside and ask.” That man was my dad and he worked for that furniture store more than forty years.