Tag: Hope

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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

Celebration of Marriage and Family 

Photo by Jeremy Wong from Pexels

You may recall me mentioning Mary Kate in past posts. She is the creative genius behind Mark Joseph Ministries, making all of our stuff look so good.

I want to congratulate Mary Kate and Greg, who got married this past Saturday. It was a beautiful wedding…the joining of two wonderful people. Cyndi and I want to wish Mary Kate and Greg much health and happiness for the entirety of their lives. May God continue to bless them on their journey!!!

Given their wedding, I thought I’d take the opportunity to give my slant on the importance of marriage and family. Please note that I come to this topic having been divorced from my first wife. We had several challenges and I definitely was not the husband that I’d be proud of today. There are no winners when it comes to divorce, not husband or wife, nor the kids, who are often the ones hurt the most.

I was very blessed to not only receive an annulment from the Church, but to have found my best friend in the world, my wife of the last 11 years, Cyndi. Believe me when I say that I don’t have it totally figured out (just asked my wife), but now understanding what marriage is to be, I truly try my best every day.

In a document published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which I sited a several weeks ago, it indicates that “the family, founded upon marriage, is the basic cell of human society. The role, responsibilities, and needs of families should be central priorities.  Marriage must be defined, recognized, and protected as a lifelong exclusive commitment between a man and a woman, and as the source of the next generation and the protective haven for children. Children, in particular, are to be valued, protected, and nurtured”.

Why is the above so important? I’d suggest we first reference Scripture. In Mark 10:6-9, Jesus says, “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate”.

Blessing of Our Children

In response to His Disciples, who were chastising people for bringing their children to Jesus, He said in Mark 10:14-16, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it. Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them”.

Photo by Jeremy Wong from Pexels

 

Jesus spoke to the importance of marriage and family. Scripture references the topic in other places, i.e. Ephesians, Chapter 5. All of Christianity, including Catholicism emphasizes the critical nature of both. Why?

I think there are two reasons, the first personal. Life is built on relationships and none is stronger or more important than that between spouses. My wife is my best friend. We help each other to be the very best we can be. We in turn try to help our kids, their spouses, and kids, to be the best they can be. There’s no one nor anything more important to us. We’re family.

Second, the family is the foundation of society…the statistics, too many to site here, clearly support its criticality. The healthy family structure, with two parents in the home, is fundamental to success in the numerous ways we can define it. That’s not to say that some families can’t endure separation, i.e. divorce. It is to say that families are much better off when intact (just ask the kids)…and so is society. And that’s coming from a divorced guy.

In celebration of Mary Kate and Greg, let’s salute marriages and families. Let’s pray for them as well. Dear Lord, we ask you to abundantly bless the families of our world, starting with the parents, that they have healthy, happy marriages.

As always, please feel free to reach out to me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com, with your comments, questions, concerns, challenges, and prayer requests.

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

Mark Joseph

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Weekly Blog

Why Bother with this Christianity Stuff?

Why Bother with this Christianity Stuff?

Why bother with Christianity? Or Catholicism? The things taught to us by the Church or are in Scripture? Why trouble ourselves? All the rules and regulations, the things you must do and can’t do. The things you have to give up, to sacrifice, to maybe go to Heaven…why bother?

It would appear that much of the world isn’t buying into Christianity. A quick internet search indicates that:

  • Roughly 31% of the world’s population is Christian, (2.3 of 7.3 billion people), meaning almost 70% is not

  • Islam comes in #2 at 23%.

In the United States, our numbers have been decreasing rapidly, especially upon entrance into the 21st century, where a recent Gallup poll found that church membership fell 20 percent in the past two decades. These numbers are pre-COVID. Further, 1/4 of American adults now say their faith is “none”…the ratio is 1/3 among those under 30. Although Christianity isn’t what it used to be in the US, it’s far worse in Europe and Canada, where many Churches are looked at more as museums.

We live in a post-Christian world. To be sure, secularism is dominating our society. While far fewer people are into their faith, many are hostile towards it. The question is “why”. What wasn’t working. What has changed?

Photo by taryn fry from Pexels

Although not new, there seems to be more of a hyper-focus on the things that will supposedly make us happy….none of them rooted in Christianity. I refer to them as the 4 Ps…prominence (including power), possessions (including wealth and money), pleasure, and people (using them, not authentic friendship). Many of us pursue these things on an endless cycle. I like the visual of the hamster on the wheel in a glass cage:

  • You can’t make the wheel go any faster

  • You’re not sure if anyone…

    • Sees you on the wheel

    • Is on the wheel with you

    • Will catch you if you fall off the wheel

  • You’re watching the world go by around you

  • You’re exhausted, deflated, and frustrated

  • You’re overwhelmed

Not only are we overwhelmed, but we’re not happy…not most of us. We’re chasing, chasing, chasing, looking for something, anything, to fill the God sized hole in the center of our chests.

So to revisit our initial question, “why bother with this Christianity stuff”? The answer is simple. Our Christian faith, our belief in Jesus, is the ONLY source of true and long-lasting happiness that any of us will ever experience.

Never wanting to violate my 600-word cap on these blogs, suffice to say that I don’t have the space here to lay it all out. That said, most of the world, including significantly increasing numbers of us in the United States, just doesn’t get it. As it says in Scripture, “Jesus is the way”. As it turns out, He’s the only way.

How do I know? I experienced it firsthand. I spent my early adult life, into my mid-40s, chasing the 4 Ps. I was on the hamster wheel…exhausted, deflated, and frustrated. Not only was I overwhelmed, but I most certainly wasn’t happy.

Then something happened. I found Jesus in my life. I came to understand and internalize His unconditional love and forgiveness, learning that as such:

  • The unimaginable is achievable

  • There can be Heaven here on earth

  • There is a specific path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment

The 4 Ps didn’t cut it for me and they won’t cut it for you. It’s Jesus and our Christian faith, which is the only way you’ll find the happiness (peace, joy, and fulfillment) that you’ve so desperately been seeking.

As always, please contact me at Mark@MarkJosephMinsitries.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