Debbie and I went to a funeral service this weekend for an friend. He was apparently very well known, because there were about 500 people there. He was Catholic, and this was the first Catholic funeral service I have been to. It was really something to experience. In prayer, song, spoken word, and communion, the focus was to give the deceased a sendoff to our Holy, Majestic and All Powerful God. Truly, it was magnificent.

In perspective, the experience makes me consider whether I have fully communicated the love I have for all of you, my "friends". I smile when I see you, we hug and I ask you how you are doing, and I pray for you when you are down, or sick or broken, but I wonder, if that is the extent of my love? I think it isn't, or at least it shouldn't be. Like all of you, I lead a busy life, but also, like (most of) you, I get to make decisions about how I am going to use my free time. When I make those choices, often I choose based on my mood at the moment, not on some logical analysis of what I should be doing next. This article for example is late, because I chose to watch TV last evening, because "I felt like it". So how do my choices tie in to how effectively I communicate my love for y'all? Well, it's like this. I am a Christian. and God gives me His Grace in the form of His Love, time, energy, money, etc. Everything good that I receive comes from God, and belongs to God. He fills my life with friends to whom I can pass on (at least some of) what He give me. Then, He give me the choice of how and when I will do that. Will I choose now, or will I choose "someday". You see, God has chosen to use me and you to love and help others in this world, and He asks only that we "consider" Him in prayer when we make those choices about how we are going to use our time and resources. He doesn't need to use me, or you, but He knows that when we seek His will, and pass on the love that He pours out into us, that we will experience His Joy, a Joy that touches us in our inner most being and connects us even closer to Himself. Truly an experience that far exceeds that of watching TV, dare I say magnificent.

I for one am not going to make a new years commitment to watch less TV. I am instead, going to commit to do the only thing that really matters, which is to Love God more, and ask Him to remind me to do the one thing I often seem to forget, which is to remember Him in my choices.

Tom

¶ 8:12 AM