Proper 8 (C, E)
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle B
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27 (C)
David is immersed in grief. His dearest friend has died without betraying the love they had between them. DavidÍs lament must cause sympathy on our part despite the rather violent circumstances of their deaths. I suppose, given the current unrest within the Christian community regarding homosexual relationships, and given the fact that there have been such insinuations regarding David and JohnÍs relationship by reputable scholars (so IÍm told), it may be necessary for the preacher to define that in some way or other. Maybe not. Maybe it doesnÍt matter. Perhaps what truly matters here in regard to the present (remembering weÍre avoiding history lessons which are not exceedingly brief), is the devastating sadness of the man who is about to become king. This would be an opportunity for the preacher to address the problem we are all destined to face in life: grief. Another possibility would be to preach on friendship „ the qualities which make a friend a true friend.
Lesson 1: Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24 (RC)
Lesson 1: Deuteronomy 15:7-11 (E)
Lesson 2: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 (C); 2 Corinthians 8:7-9, 13-15 (RC); 2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 13-15 (E)
This would make a major Building Fund sermon, donÍt you think? I know of a large church which is even now in the latter stages of a building project. It was originally estimated at what seemed a reasonable amount. But because of poor estimates, change orders, and „ well, you know if youÍve been through one of these „ the cost is now estimated at a substantial increase from the original estimate. People are getting restive. Some are deciding the whole thing was a mistake. A few are considering reneging on their pledges. But this church has a fantastic outreach program, is doing a marvelous work for the community and out into the world. The pastor is a wonderful and gifted man. The dollars sound enormous (to me), but in relation to the good they do there the dollars are reasonable.
In PaulÍs day, the ñChurch'' was largely composed of small groups of people banded together to worship God as known through Jesus Christ. They were, I imagine, stripped down, muscular, able to act as needed, whereas many of our denominations today are fat and ponderous, overburdened with hierarchy, bound by tradition and political correctness to the point that itÍs often difficult to reach out effectively.
In this passage, Paul is urging the Corinthians to join in the generous work of helping people in need wherever and whoever they may be. ThatÍs the true work of the Church. Somehow, our job today is to gear up those churches large and small in such a way that the reaching out, the helping of needful people, can be made more effective. Today this must be done through organized churches. Our appeal must be to stand above all those restraining forces which so easily occupy our time and energies, and to find ways to find and help those most in need. The role of the preacher in todayÍs church is to enable the raising of sufficient funds, but also to disarm the prejudices, the jealousies, and the sheer disinterest of our people so that the work to which we are called can be done.
Gospel: Mark 5:21-43 (C, RC); Mark 5:22-24, 35b-43 (E)
We really have two stories in one. The main story is about a little girl who has apparently died. Her father, Jairus by name, has come to Jesus for help. Since Jairus was an official of the synagogue, we are especially interested in his willingness to ask Jesus for help. When our loved ones are at risk, it causes us to set aside some of our biases and do what seems best. So Jesus goes with Jairus to his home, where the little twelve-year-old girl lies motionless. Ignoring the chiding by some bystanders, Jesus asks the child to get up. To the amazement of the bystanders, she does just that. Jesus then asks his companions, Peter, James, and John, not to tell anyone. I presume, however, that the father and mother must have spread the word.
We cannot, of course, know whether the girl was literally dead, or whether she was unconscious. Obviously the family and friends were convinced she was dead. Funeral customs were quite specific in that culture and the crying and wailing were partly sincere and partly a form of sympathy, probably an ancient counterpart to the quiet words of comfort we speak to the bereaved in our culture.
Preaching possibilities in this portion of the text are several. The father set aside his self-importance because of his love. We parents, too, frequently find that if we are to be good mothers and fathers, we must make sacrifices. We could also focus on the fact that Jesus can bring new life to the dead. While we usually do not expect that today in any physical sense, it surely happens in a spiritual sense. Many a person, deep in despair, torn by anxiety, lonely beyond description, dead in a very painful sense of the word, finds sudden new life when Jesus Christ begins to work. ñI tell you to get up'' are words we may hear ourselves during such down times in our lives.
The story within a story concerns the woman who has been ill for a long time. She has used up her resources in vain visits to ñdoctors'' of her time. Still quite sick, she reaches out to Jesus as he passes, and touches his clothing. Instantly, she is cured. Amazingly, Jesus senses that something has happened. He remarks on this, and the woman, perhaps fearing she has done something wrong, tells him of her illness and the cure. Jesus is glad for her and informs her that it was her own faith which healed her.
Two sermon possibilities occur to me in this section (vv. 25-34). One is the obvious one, that our own faith can bring about healing. I refer the preacher to a useful book titled Love, Medicine, And Miracles, by Bernie S. Siegel, M.D., for some splendid illustrations of this from a medical scientistÍs viewpoint.
The other sermon possibility is the fact that we too have powers „ not, of course, like Jesus, but still we are empowered through the Holy Spirit. Power can go out from us, too, in our relationships with other people. I have told of the friend of mine who is now in his third year of remission from a very serious cancer. He had major surgery, chemo, then found his greatest healing, he believes, in his faith. Now people who know this very successful businessman are being attracted to the faith because of his witness. At the office, at school, in the neighborhood, at the store, wherever we may be, we too may often be examples of faith which in turn influence other people, sometimes when we are unaware. My own stepdaughter, now in college, met a wonderful couple in her Presbyterian church, who by their kind and loving manner exemplified a kind of life which so influenced our Sarah that she has since wanted to be like that. She understood that it was that coupleÍs deep faith in Christ which made them as they are, so she turned there too. That family moved away a couple years ago, but Sarah is now a deeply believing Christian. Her life has been richly blessed. The credit goes to a couple from whom power went out.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: ñLove Requires The Price Of Grief''
Text: 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
Theme: Judith Viorst wrote a fine book titled Necessary Losses, making the point that life involves a series of grieving experiences, from the babyÍs discovery that mother has other things to do through the departure to college or to adult life of the young person, leaving Mother and Dad to worry. I shall never forget the day my one and only daughter decided the weather in Indiana is too miserable to be endured. So a few months following her graduation from college, she and a friend loaded down a battered old Ford and headed for San Diego. Having assumed she would settle down near me, I shall always remember the appalling sadness I felt as I waved good-bye and saw that old car turn the corner and disappear from view. She would now live 2,000 miles away. Søren Kierkegaard was right when he said, ñIt takes moral courage to grieve; it requires religious courage to rejoice.''
Some of us have been where David was. I have. So has my dear wife. Her boy baby died a few weeks after he was born. Now little Gavin lies buried a few blocks from our home, and every year on his birthday, she takes a little teddy bear to his resting place and stands alone in remembrance. Nothing can take away that sadness. My own mother lost a son before I was born. She never spoke of him.
Wordsworth understood when he wrote these words:
She lived unknown, and few could know
When Lucy ceased to be;
But she is in her grave, and oh,
The difference to me!
Is it possible that God, with deeper wisdom, knew how important grief is to the human soul? Is it not true that the more we love, the more vulnerable we are? IsnÍt it true that the only way to avoid the most painful grief is never to love? Ralph Sockman wrote: ñThe eye that never knows tears would lack essential tenderness. The mind that never mourns would not possess the mellowness needed for friendship and love. The heart that never felt a break would not be quite whole.''
I well recall the change in me when my wife of 25 years died in a car crash. It was the most devastating event of my life, to this very moment. The following year was one of barely bearable pain. But my parishioners told me they saw a difference, a growth, a sensitivity to them and their suffering which was not quite there in me before.
1. Grief is the price of love.
2. Grief is the necessary means by which we grow in love.
3. Grief is always assuaged at last, if Jesus is allowed in.
4. Grief is the bond by which we may say, ñThose who truly love will never say good-bye.''
Title: ñWe Are The Church''
Text: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Theme: LetÍs use this to preach on the role of the Church today. Its number one function is to foster generosity. And there are many forms of generosity.
1. A Christian is generous with money. Paul makes the point that our giving is to be seen in relation to what we have. We recall JesusÍ story of the widow and the two coins.
2. A Christian is generous with judgment. Actually, we are not to judge others at all, but that is an impossible ethic. We all judge, if by that we mean the rendering of opinions about others in terms of their conduct, values, and so forth. I donÍt know a single person who isnÍt guilty. But we are to make every effort to be generous in such judgments.
3. A Christian is to be generous in acceptance of others. LetÍs be realistic. It isnÍt easy to accept people when we canÍt understand them, and it isnÍt easy to understand people when their culture is very different from our own. But what we can do is remind ourselves over and over again that we are brothers and sisters under God. You may not like my table manners, or my style of dress, or my grammatical mistakes, but you can make allowances for my heritage, my education, and my accident of birth and remember that in GodÍs eyes you and I are equal. So we are to love (agape) each other.
4. A Christian is generous with the church. Enough of this business of possessiveness because IÍve been a member here for forty years, donating generously each year, and am therefore entitled to special ownership. Nonsense. The day a visitor walks through our doors, that visitor has exactly the same right that I do in that church.
Title: ñGet Up And Walk''
Text: Mark 5:21-23, 35-43
Theme: Of the many possible themes in this story, I like the fact that Jesus addresses us with the stern yet loving order: ñGet up.'' When I was a small boy, we had neighbors who had an interesting situation. The woman was bedridden. For many years I would see her husband drag home after work, do laundry in the basement, fix dinner in the kitchen, then take it up to his poor wife. He did everything around the house, and she was only able to make her way downstairs for a couple hours each day. Then one day, the man died. Shortly thereafter, the woman got up and led a fairly normal life. Clearly, some psychological problems prevented her from living her life.
An exaggerated (though true) example. Yet many people do fail to realize their potential in life because of any of an endless number of debilitating problems. In lesser ways, maybe most of us are inhibited from doing what, deep down, we wish we could do, whereas we really could with a little faith in ourselves and in GodÍs assistance.
Fears, depression, discouragement, anxiety, anger „ these can deaden us. Jesus doesnÍt want that. Jesus said of his message, ñI tell you these things that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.''
1. Our attitudes determine our lives. Negative attitudes can limit us terribly.
2. GodÍs will for us is that we live life to the fullest.
3. Jesus promised us that faith can make us whole. Paul said he could ñdo all things through Christ'' who strengthened him.
4. The proper attitude is one of partnership with God. I do my part, God will do his.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
If you read Viktor FranklÍs ManÍs Search For Meaning, youÍll recall that he found comfort following the death of his wife in the thought that had he died first, she would have endured the terrible grief, as they loved each other deeply. But she died first, and he was able to offer up his grief as a gift to her.
____________
I would like to share an experience which taught me an important lesson. I was barely old enough to be in World War II as a teenager. As a PFC in an infantry company in Normandy, my unit was caught in heavy artillery fire, and many were wounded „ including me. Now it so happened that some of the members of our company were Mexican-Americans. They spoke Spanish among themselves, and generally associated only with each other, playing games we did not understand, and playing a banjo at all hours. We gringos didnÍt care much for those fellows. It wasnÍt that they were bad. We just didnÍt understand them. We came from the middle west, most of us, and had never met anyone very different from ourselves.
As heavy artillery fire rained down on our position, casualties were heavy, eventually numbering over 100 of the 180 men in our company. I myself was unable to walk and could only lie there until strong arms gathered me up and I was carried to safety from the firing. As I looked into the face of my rescuer, I was surprised to realize it was the Mexican-American man whom I had disliked the most. I never saw that man again. I donÍt even know whether he survived, because when he carried me to safety, he went out again under fire. But I learned how shameful my selfish little attitude had been, how much I had to learn about my world. I certainly learned something important that day.
____________
Bruce Larson spent three years researching the question: What constitutes a mentally healthy person? He was funded by Lilly Endowment of Indianapolis, and traveled to such places as the Menninger Clinic, Dr. Paul Tournier in Switzerland, and many other centers of mental healing. At each one he asked what constitutes mental health. He said there were a number of characteristics mentioned. But the one that appeared on every list was this: A mentally healthy person is a risk taker. To face life and live it to the full we must take risks. This may sometimes mean physical risks. More often it means the risk of trying something new, of visiting a place youÍve always wanted to see, of calling an old friend. Risks are necessary like salt in a stew.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 130 (C) „ ñOut of the depths I cry to you O, Lord.''
Psalm 29 (RC) „ ñAscribe to the Lord....''
Psalm 112 (E) „ ñPraise the Lord.''
Prayer Of The Day
Give us courage, O Lord, we pray, to step forth into life, to use those opportunities which presently lie before us to do something meaningful, something which can make a difference in our lives and the lives of those around us. Keep us fearless as life in all its fullness lies before us this very moment. In JesusÍ name we pray. Amen.
Lesson 1: 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27 (C)
David is immersed in grief. His dearest friend has died without betraying the love they had between them. DavidÍs lament must cause sympathy on our part despite the rather violent circumstances of their deaths. I suppose, given the current unrest within the Christian community regarding homosexual relationships, and given the fact that there have been such insinuations regarding David and JohnÍs relationship by reputable scholars (so IÍm told), it may be necessary for the preacher to define that in some way or other. Maybe not. Maybe it doesnÍt matter. Perhaps what truly matters here in regard to the present (remembering weÍre avoiding history lessons which are not exceedingly brief), is the devastating sadness of the man who is about to become king. This would be an opportunity for the preacher to address the problem we are all destined to face in life: grief. Another possibility would be to preach on friendship „ the qualities which make a friend a true friend.
Lesson 1: Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24 (RC)
Lesson 1: Deuteronomy 15:7-11 (E)
Lesson 2: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 (C); 2 Corinthians 8:7-9, 13-15 (RC); 2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 13-15 (E)
This would make a major Building Fund sermon, donÍt you think? I know of a large church which is even now in the latter stages of a building project. It was originally estimated at what seemed a reasonable amount. But because of poor estimates, change orders, and „ well, you know if youÍve been through one of these „ the cost is now estimated at a substantial increase from the original estimate. People are getting restive. Some are deciding the whole thing was a mistake. A few are considering reneging on their pledges. But this church has a fantastic outreach program, is doing a marvelous work for the community and out into the world. The pastor is a wonderful and gifted man. The dollars sound enormous (to me), but in relation to the good they do there the dollars are reasonable.
In PaulÍs day, the ñChurch'' was largely composed of small groups of people banded together to worship God as known through Jesus Christ. They were, I imagine, stripped down, muscular, able to act as needed, whereas many of our denominations today are fat and ponderous, overburdened with hierarchy, bound by tradition and political correctness to the point that itÍs often difficult to reach out effectively.
In this passage, Paul is urging the Corinthians to join in the generous work of helping people in need wherever and whoever they may be. ThatÍs the true work of the Church. Somehow, our job today is to gear up those churches large and small in such a way that the reaching out, the helping of needful people, can be made more effective. Today this must be done through organized churches. Our appeal must be to stand above all those restraining forces which so easily occupy our time and energies, and to find ways to find and help those most in need. The role of the preacher in todayÍs church is to enable the raising of sufficient funds, but also to disarm the prejudices, the jealousies, and the sheer disinterest of our people so that the work to which we are called can be done.
Gospel: Mark 5:21-43 (C, RC); Mark 5:22-24, 35b-43 (E)
We really have two stories in one. The main story is about a little girl who has apparently died. Her father, Jairus by name, has come to Jesus for help. Since Jairus was an official of the synagogue, we are especially interested in his willingness to ask Jesus for help. When our loved ones are at risk, it causes us to set aside some of our biases and do what seems best. So Jesus goes with Jairus to his home, where the little twelve-year-old girl lies motionless. Ignoring the chiding by some bystanders, Jesus asks the child to get up. To the amazement of the bystanders, she does just that. Jesus then asks his companions, Peter, James, and John, not to tell anyone. I presume, however, that the father and mother must have spread the word.
We cannot, of course, know whether the girl was literally dead, or whether she was unconscious. Obviously the family and friends were convinced she was dead. Funeral customs were quite specific in that culture and the crying and wailing were partly sincere and partly a form of sympathy, probably an ancient counterpart to the quiet words of comfort we speak to the bereaved in our culture.
Preaching possibilities in this portion of the text are several. The father set aside his self-importance because of his love. We parents, too, frequently find that if we are to be good mothers and fathers, we must make sacrifices. We could also focus on the fact that Jesus can bring new life to the dead. While we usually do not expect that today in any physical sense, it surely happens in a spiritual sense. Many a person, deep in despair, torn by anxiety, lonely beyond description, dead in a very painful sense of the word, finds sudden new life when Jesus Christ begins to work. ñI tell you to get up'' are words we may hear ourselves during such down times in our lives.
The story within a story concerns the woman who has been ill for a long time. She has used up her resources in vain visits to ñdoctors'' of her time. Still quite sick, she reaches out to Jesus as he passes, and touches his clothing. Instantly, she is cured. Amazingly, Jesus senses that something has happened. He remarks on this, and the woman, perhaps fearing she has done something wrong, tells him of her illness and the cure. Jesus is glad for her and informs her that it was her own faith which healed her.
Two sermon possibilities occur to me in this section (vv. 25-34). One is the obvious one, that our own faith can bring about healing. I refer the preacher to a useful book titled Love, Medicine, And Miracles, by Bernie S. Siegel, M.D., for some splendid illustrations of this from a medical scientistÍs viewpoint.
The other sermon possibility is the fact that we too have powers „ not, of course, like Jesus, but still we are empowered through the Holy Spirit. Power can go out from us, too, in our relationships with other people. I have told of the friend of mine who is now in his third year of remission from a very serious cancer. He had major surgery, chemo, then found his greatest healing, he believes, in his faith. Now people who know this very successful businessman are being attracted to the faith because of his witness. At the office, at school, in the neighborhood, at the store, wherever we may be, we too may often be examples of faith which in turn influence other people, sometimes when we are unaware. My own stepdaughter, now in college, met a wonderful couple in her Presbyterian church, who by their kind and loving manner exemplified a kind of life which so influenced our Sarah that she has since wanted to be like that. She understood that it was that coupleÍs deep faith in Christ which made them as they are, so she turned there too. That family moved away a couple years ago, but Sarah is now a deeply believing Christian. Her life has been richly blessed. The credit goes to a couple from whom power went out.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: ñLove Requires The Price Of Grief''
Text: 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
Theme: Judith Viorst wrote a fine book titled Necessary Losses, making the point that life involves a series of grieving experiences, from the babyÍs discovery that mother has other things to do through the departure to college or to adult life of the young person, leaving Mother and Dad to worry. I shall never forget the day my one and only daughter decided the weather in Indiana is too miserable to be endured. So a few months following her graduation from college, she and a friend loaded down a battered old Ford and headed for San Diego. Having assumed she would settle down near me, I shall always remember the appalling sadness I felt as I waved good-bye and saw that old car turn the corner and disappear from view. She would now live 2,000 miles away. Søren Kierkegaard was right when he said, ñIt takes moral courage to grieve; it requires religious courage to rejoice.''
Some of us have been where David was. I have. So has my dear wife. Her boy baby died a few weeks after he was born. Now little Gavin lies buried a few blocks from our home, and every year on his birthday, she takes a little teddy bear to his resting place and stands alone in remembrance. Nothing can take away that sadness. My own mother lost a son before I was born. She never spoke of him.
Wordsworth understood when he wrote these words:
She lived unknown, and few could know
When Lucy ceased to be;
But she is in her grave, and oh,
The difference to me!
Is it possible that God, with deeper wisdom, knew how important grief is to the human soul? Is it not true that the more we love, the more vulnerable we are? IsnÍt it true that the only way to avoid the most painful grief is never to love? Ralph Sockman wrote: ñThe eye that never knows tears would lack essential tenderness. The mind that never mourns would not possess the mellowness needed for friendship and love. The heart that never felt a break would not be quite whole.''
I well recall the change in me when my wife of 25 years died in a car crash. It was the most devastating event of my life, to this very moment. The following year was one of barely bearable pain. But my parishioners told me they saw a difference, a growth, a sensitivity to them and their suffering which was not quite there in me before.
1. Grief is the price of love.
2. Grief is the necessary means by which we grow in love.
3. Grief is always assuaged at last, if Jesus is allowed in.
4. Grief is the bond by which we may say, ñThose who truly love will never say good-bye.''
Title: ñWe Are The Church''
Text: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Theme: LetÍs use this to preach on the role of the Church today. Its number one function is to foster generosity. And there are many forms of generosity.
1. A Christian is generous with money. Paul makes the point that our giving is to be seen in relation to what we have. We recall JesusÍ story of the widow and the two coins.
2. A Christian is generous with judgment. Actually, we are not to judge others at all, but that is an impossible ethic. We all judge, if by that we mean the rendering of opinions about others in terms of their conduct, values, and so forth. I donÍt know a single person who isnÍt guilty. But we are to make every effort to be generous in such judgments.
3. A Christian is to be generous in acceptance of others. LetÍs be realistic. It isnÍt easy to accept people when we canÍt understand them, and it isnÍt easy to understand people when their culture is very different from our own. But what we can do is remind ourselves over and over again that we are brothers and sisters under God. You may not like my table manners, or my style of dress, or my grammatical mistakes, but you can make allowances for my heritage, my education, and my accident of birth and remember that in GodÍs eyes you and I are equal. So we are to love (agape) each other.
4. A Christian is generous with the church. Enough of this business of possessiveness because IÍve been a member here for forty years, donating generously each year, and am therefore entitled to special ownership. Nonsense. The day a visitor walks through our doors, that visitor has exactly the same right that I do in that church.
Title: ñGet Up And Walk''
Text: Mark 5:21-23, 35-43
Theme: Of the many possible themes in this story, I like the fact that Jesus addresses us with the stern yet loving order: ñGet up.'' When I was a small boy, we had neighbors who had an interesting situation. The woman was bedridden. For many years I would see her husband drag home after work, do laundry in the basement, fix dinner in the kitchen, then take it up to his poor wife. He did everything around the house, and she was only able to make her way downstairs for a couple hours each day. Then one day, the man died. Shortly thereafter, the woman got up and led a fairly normal life. Clearly, some psychological problems prevented her from living her life.
An exaggerated (though true) example. Yet many people do fail to realize their potential in life because of any of an endless number of debilitating problems. In lesser ways, maybe most of us are inhibited from doing what, deep down, we wish we could do, whereas we really could with a little faith in ourselves and in GodÍs assistance.
Fears, depression, discouragement, anxiety, anger „ these can deaden us. Jesus doesnÍt want that. Jesus said of his message, ñI tell you these things that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.''
1. Our attitudes determine our lives. Negative attitudes can limit us terribly.
2. GodÍs will for us is that we live life to the fullest.
3. Jesus promised us that faith can make us whole. Paul said he could ñdo all things through Christ'' who strengthened him.
4. The proper attitude is one of partnership with God. I do my part, God will do his.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
If you read Viktor FranklÍs ManÍs Search For Meaning, youÍll recall that he found comfort following the death of his wife in the thought that had he died first, she would have endured the terrible grief, as they loved each other deeply. But she died first, and he was able to offer up his grief as a gift to her.
____________
I would like to share an experience which taught me an important lesson. I was barely old enough to be in World War II as a teenager. As a PFC in an infantry company in Normandy, my unit was caught in heavy artillery fire, and many were wounded „ including me. Now it so happened that some of the members of our company were Mexican-Americans. They spoke Spanish among themselves, and generally associated only with each other, playing games we did not understand, and playing a banjo at all hours. We gringos didnÍt care much for those fellows. It wasnÍt that they were bad. We just didnÍt understand them. We came from the middle west, most of us, and had never met anyone very different from ourselves.
As heavy artillery fire rained down on our position, casualties were heavy, eventually numbering over 100 of the 180 men in our company. I myself was unable to walk and could only lie there until strong arms gathered me up and I was carried to safety from the firing. As I looked into the face of my rescuer, I was surprised to realize it was the Mexican-American man whom I had disliked the most. I never saw that man again. I donÍt even know whether he survived, because when he carried me to safety, he went out again under fire. But I learned how shameful my selfish little attitude had been, how much I had to learn about my world. I certainly learned something important that day.
____________
Bruce Larson spent three years researching the question: What constitutes a mentally healthy person? He was funded by Lilly Endowment of Indianapolis, and traveled to such places as the Menninger Clinic, Dr. Paul Tournier in Switzerland, and many other centers of mental healing. At each one he asked what constitutes mental health. He said there were a number of characteristics mentioned. But the one that appeared on every list was this: A mentally healthy person is a risk taker. To face life and live it to the full we must take risks. This may sometimes mean physical risks. More often it means the risk of trying something new, of visiting a place youÍve always wanted to see, of calling an old friend. Risks are necessary like salt in a stew.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 130 (C) „ ñOut of the depths I cry to you O, Lord.''
Psalm 29 (RC) „ ñAscribe to the Lord....''
Psalm 112 (E) „ ñPraise the Lord.''
Prayer Of The Day
Give us courage, O Lord, we pray, to step forth into life, to use those opportunities which presently lie before us to do something meaningful, something which can make a difference in our lives and the lives of those around us. Keep us fearless as life in all its fullness lies before us this very moment. In JesusÍ name we pray. Amen.
