Thursday, July 11, 2013

Bless Their Hearts! :)

I got something in the mail today that made me chuckle and wince and feel a tad irritated all at the same time.  I got mail from the Republican National Committee.  I had been a card-carrying member until a few years ago.  Then I got tired of continual fundraising letters that suggested that if I did not send in extra money immediately, then the Democrats (gasp) would win an extra seat in the House and the nation would suffer terrible things.  It is one thing to have political views and leanings, and I do lean towards the right.  However, it is quite another to think in exaggerated terms of black and white, and of evil and good, with nothing in between.

My guess is that much of this rhetoric came from the fundraisers.  I have run into this before.  While living in Ohio a man representing the Fraternal Order of Police phoned me and was so pushy in his attempts to get me to contribute that I resolved never to give to that organization again.  It was a shame, because I felt that even if I wanted to give (and basically I think the police need far more support from the public than they get), to contribute at that point would encourage this practice of ugly and pushy fundraising.

Back to today's whopper.  Take a gander at this!!!!


Past due?  Past due???????????  If you really want to alienate your donor base, then go ahead and suggest that they are late in paying their bills.  This is not a bill.  It is not a debt or an obligation.  It is, or might have been, a donation.  But this donation will not be donated, certainly not while the organization is wasting its money on incompetent fund raisers.

It is sad, really.  If people talk to me intelligently, I, like most people, I imagine, will listen and consider their request.  But use exaggerated rhetoric, or use insulting words on the envelope, and I will turn my attention elsewhere.

I have no idea whether this particular envelope contained exaggerated rhetoric.  It probably did, but I will never know because this envelope is now in my trash.

Grow up, fundraisers!

Sunday, July 7, 2013

The Divine Lullaby

We know that the Word of God is living.  It is not just a book written down and left by the Lord for us to read by ourselves.  He is with us as we read, helping us notice things, and giving us the light and love to see the most wonderful things within those holy pages.  This is why the Word never grows old.  We can, if we open our minds and hearts and bow our heads, learn new things every time we read, seeing things we never saw  before.

I have read the 42nd Psalm countless times, but today, in reading it once more, a small phrase jumped out.  "In the night His song shall be with me" (Ps. 42:8).  It seemed at first to be saying that during the night the Lord sings to you.

Admittedly, the wording is ambiguous.  Perhaps David is the one singing, singing to the Lord "His" song.  This may well be the case, given that the verses continues, "and my prayer unto the God of my life."  If we reflect, though, we realize that even if David is the one singing, he really is not singing alone.

As we read the Word, the Lord is with us in that reading, helping us see and understand.  As we pray, He is with us in the thoughts and feelings behind our words, helping us to know what to say.  And when we sing?  Surely He is with us in our singing, and rejoicing in His being present with us.

Perhaps, the next time you have trouble sleeping, your mind filled with all kinds of useless worries, you can focus on His song, the song of our Father and Savior, the song of the Lord who will never leave us.