Tag: balance

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So You Want to Fix the World…?

I thought this week I’d share a story I’ve heard before. I love its message. It goes as follows.

A father is preparing for a meeting, needing a couple hours of quiet time, when his son, a 10 year old, comes into his study, wanting to play. The father encouraged his son to go play outside, but the son returned. The father saw a magazine on the table with a picture of the world on it. He picked it up, ripped off the cover and tore it into many, many pieces. He handed it to his son, encouraging him to piece together the hand-made puzzle, thinking he bought himself a couple hours.

The son went into the other room and spread all the pieces on the floor. He wasn’t familiar with the world and as such, had no idea how to put the puzzle back together. One of the pieces got turned to the other side and the boy noticed the picture of a hand. He then proceeded to turn over all the pieces, guessing that possibly they would create the picture of an entire person.

 Photo by Sharon Snider from Pexels

 

The boy assembled the puzzle, knowing what a person looks like. He then got some clear tape to ensure that all the pieces stayed in order. He placed a piece of paper over the “person” puzzle, then turning it over, exposing the picture of world, perfectly put back together. All of this took him all but 10 minutes.

The boy rushed back into his dad’s office, incredibly excited about what he did. Looking at his watch, his dad was amazed. Knowing that his son couldn’t possibly know how the world would fit together, he asked how he did it so quickly. His son explained finding the picture of the hand, then turning over all the pieces, followed by assembling the puzzle of the person. He then explained how he taped it and turned it over, showing the world assembled perfectly.

Absolutely amazed, the dad expressed his incredible pride in his son, hugging him and telling him so. The father said, “Son, how in the world (no pun intended) did you figure this out?” The son then responded, “Dad, I figured if I took care of the person, the world would take care of itself”.

Out of the mouths of babes…such a true statement. In so many ways, if we had happy, healthy people, we’d have a better world. In reading my blogs, it won’t be a surprise to you that I think that the best measure of these things is our spiritual lives. In the Great Commandments (Matthew 22:36-40), Jesus instructs us to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. I think that those reading these posts would agree that men and women adhering to the Great Commandments are arguably our best people…and I’d suggest the happiest.

So again, “if we take care of the person”, if the person is the very best he or she can be, then “the world will take care of itself”. Huh!!! How about that. Go God!!!

As always, please get in touch with me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com with questions, comments, concerns, challenges, or prayer requests.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph

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Weekly Blog

Serenity Now

My favorite sitcom of all time is Seinfeld. My wife and I continue to watch the occasional rerun. I think it’s the greatest writing in the history of television. The cast was second to none. I once heard that part of the brilliance of the show was Jerry Seinfeld’s insistence that all of his costars share in getting the funny lines and the meaningful scenes….they weren’t just reserved for him.

One such example was George’s father, Frank Costanza, as part of one of his many crazed scenes over the sitcom’s history. He screamed, “serenity now, serenity now”.

Although I posted on “serenity” March 27th, 2019 (in a much shorter blog), it came to mind this past week. I don’t know about you, but given what’s going on in our country, as exemplified by the election, I feel like screaming, “serenity now!!!”


Photo by Tim Gouw from Pexels

Dictionary.com defines serenity as the state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil. Serenity, synonymous with “peace” is important. I’d suggest praying the Serenity Prayer regularly in your life. I do. As identified previously in my posts, it is one of five rote prayers I say every morning. I say each very slowly, hanging on and praying through every word. I’d invite you to do the same.

The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely joyful with Him
Forever and ever in the next.

Amen.

The breakdown of the above is as follows:

  • The first four lines ask for God’s help in maintaining the serenity within us, distinguishing between what we can control and not, then giving us the courage to take action.
  • The second part of the prayer is a recipe for how we ought to live our lives, such that we can experience happiness here on earth and joy thereafter.

You may feel compelled to act, given what’s transpiring in our country. Or it might be something else in your life that you need to discern. Pray the Serenity Prayer. It helps me…it can help you too.

 As always, feel free to reach out to me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com, with questions, comments, concerns, challenges, or prayer requests. I’m here to help…seriously!!!

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph

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Weekly Blog

Come on Man/Woman…Enough is Enough

I don’t know about you, but I am disgusted by what’s going on in our country. With the exception of how politicized it has become, I’m not even talking about the pandemic. I heard a report today that the riots, that continue in many of our cities, in just May and June cost us $2 billion. With it being mid-September, what’s the modified price tag (dollars), in addition to the loss and injury to life, loss of businesses and livelihoods, the destruction of property, and theft, especially in our poorest communities.

I watch more news than is good for me…because I just saw a report about abuse of our elderly. What happens to a society where the sanctity of life means nothing, a society that has killed 10s of millions of unborn babies over the last several decades. It’s the same society where murder rates have increased so dramatically recently, disproportionately in our inner cities. Rarely discussed, rates of suicides, addictions, and overdoses continue to climb. And the use of pornography is overwhelming, including by our kids at younger and younger ages.

Add to the above a stark example of depravity in our society, a pornographic movie now on Netflix, called “Cuties”. It’s beyond the pale. It’s pure pedophilia. It’s the exploitation of 11-year old girls. You can’t possibly watch it and believe anything different. And yet Netflix not only continues to broadcast it, but defends it.

There’s a phrase that rings so true and that is, “the silence is deafening”. It is astonishing the number of people, especially those with a platform, who have not spoken out about “Cuties” or any of the other things identified above. Simply astonishing. Very sad.

Previously a big fan of the NFL, I used to watch ESPN’s Sunday morning show, with Chris Berman, Tom Jackson, Mike Ditka, Cris Carter, Keyshawn Johnson, and others. Each Sunday, they had a segment, where each commentator called out strange or egregious behavior with the phrase “come on man”. It was funny stuff.

In praying through this week’s blog, it’s the phrase that kept coming to mind. With the craziness that’s going on in our world…come on man (and woman)….enough is enough!!!

Photo by Engin Akyurt from Pexels

What Can We Do?

What can we do? My wife and I were discussing the other night the fact that we feel that we need to do something. Just sitting quietly makes us feel helpless. What can we do? I’d suggest a few things:

  1. Pray – our country needs prayer. We are broken. So many people are searching. So many people, as exemplified by their actions, can’t possibly know the love of Jesus Christ. It literally just occurred to me last week, that I need to pray for the rioters. We all need to pray. In Matthew 5:44, Jesus tells us, “but I say to you: love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. And pray for those who persecute and slander you”. We need to pray for those who are being hurt, those inflicting the pain, and for ourselves.
  2. Care for Others– people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. We need to love others. We need to care for others. As part of the Great Commandments, Jesus told us in Matthew 22:39, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself”. Our world desperately needs more love and it begins with each of us individually. How are we caring for those closest to us? How we live inside our homes dictates how we live, how we treat others, outside our homes. We need to love one another, those in our inner circle and those we meet for the first time.
  3. Charitably Speak the Truth – there is far too much misinformation in today’s world. Truth matters. Truth is important. That said, truth needs to be delivered charitably. As stated in #2 above, people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. We need to love one another and part of that love is sharing the truth. We hear about the division in families over tough topics, i.e. politics. I’d argue that discussing tough issues is important and needs to take place…charitably.

So in closing, come on man/woman….enough is enough!!! Let’s do something about what’s going on in our world. Numbers 1, 2, and 3 above are a good start.

As always, please feel free to contact me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com with questions, comments, concerns, or challenges. Happy to pray for you as well.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

What’s Happened to Integrity in our Society?

In last Wednesday’s blog, I noted about my weekly message…“Although topics are varied, I typically write about what is on my heart and mind for that week, often related to current events, always tied back to the faith and our loving God”. In praying this morning, thinking about what’s been occurring in our country, the Lord put the word “integrity” on my heart.

Dictionary.com defines integrity as adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty; the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished; a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition.

Doing a search for a Catholic definition of integrity, I found the following on CatholicCulture.com. Integrity is honesty or trustworthiness. The quality of being virtuous. Wholeness of character without duplicity or internal conflict of interests.

I assume that everyone agrees, whether a believer or not, significantly committed to our faith or not, that integrity is a good thing. No one wants to be in relationship with a habitual liar or someone of bad character. Liars don’t even want to be with other liars (unless they are complicit in the same lie) because they can’t trust one another.

Photo by Andrew Neel from Pexels

My Past Struggle with Integrity

I don’t know about you, but there were times in my life, more than I’d like to recall, where I didn’t act with integrity. I wasn’t virtuous or of good character. I wasn’t truthful, lying to others and if I’m truthful (no pun intended) lying to myself. Some of those instances were almost accidental while others were premeditated, requiring planning and intent. It was at a time in my life when it was all about me, myself, and I. It pains me to say that focus on me and my desires, caused me to act with malice at times, hurting others along the way. Reflecting, I am deeply saddened and sorry for my actions. 

I can also recount times when dealing with others who had no integrity, at least in the moment or the circumstance. Like me, I’m sure some of it was accidental while at other times it was the norm. I recall not only being hurt, but losing trust. Without integrity, without truth, we can’t function. Life doesn’t work.

Broader Role of Integrity

Although I have very strong political views, those that (like you) I believe are consistent with my faith, I’ve never published a single word on politics. I’ve never expressed my political views or affiliation on this platform…because I’ve not wanted politics to get in the way of what I consider to be an incredibly important message…that is the love of Jesus Christ.

It’s not my intent to become political here either. That said, with all that’s going on in our country, i.e. COVID-19, continued shutdowns, issues related to kids going back to school, racial divide, numerous ongoing riots, immigration, economic issues, Russia, China, mail-in voting, an upcoming presidential election, and the resulting political division…..truth matters. Integrity matters. It really does.

Without truth, we can’t trust. Without integrity, there is no moral character. No moral compass. As I indicated two weeks ago, Satan’s primary strategies are division, deception, diversion, and discouragement. Lack of integrity (or truth) is just another way of saying “deception” and “diversion”. And as quoted from Matthew 12:25 in that August 26th blog, “a house divided against itself will not stand”. Satan loves dividing us.

It’s not my objective here to tell you how to vote. I do suggest being very discerning with what you believe. The dis-information that we have in our society today, the lack of truth and integrity that exists, is literally sinful, and I don’t say that lightly.

Knowing that I’m a beloved child of Christ (that won’t sound strange if you’re a frequent reader of this blog), I believe that all the answers to life (as you’ve heard me say before) are offered to us by the Church and in Scripture. When it comes to truth and integrity, I would suggest we look to our Savior, Jesus Christ, in addition to Church teachings and Scripture. If we are the Christians that we’re called to be, our world view and our lives will reflect all three.

Please feel free to send me a note at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com pertaining to your comments, questions, concerns, needs, or prayer requests.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph