To keep a promise....

 

 Promises.  How many promises do you make?  How many do you keep?

Without doubt or hesitation, I know that God keeps His Promises.  Mercy and love, impartial judgment and grace, integrity and unchanging character, compassion to the weak crushed by life, forgiveness and salvation...endless list.

In many blog posts, one will express pain and suffering or depression over losses, or heartbreak.  In the comment section, so many sincere followers give comfort and sympathy.  And then, there is "I'll be praying for you" somewhere in the comments, or "Prayers and blessings".  

But, I wonder are these phrases are actually followed?  Once the words are written and the cursor goes to publish, will these word be acted upon?

This is not a criticism, for I write these words myself, but simply a question.

Robert Frost wrote in "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" this last quatrain, 

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

But I have promises to keep.  Any type of promise?  Yes, it would seem so.  A promise to bring a salad to a potluck is an easy promise--CostCo provides.  A promise to meet at 2:00 can vary from 1:55 to 2:05 (we are obsessive about this.) is still an easy promise to keep for most people. My in-laws are lax on this.

But to say "I'll be praying for you" is vague.  Perhaps this sentence should be followed by "I promise". This is one promise that requires commitment and sincerity. It needs to be kept. 

 

Sing. Pray.

Pandemic  by Lynn Ungar 3/11/20

YouTube

about about 1.5 minutes

What if you thought of it

as the Jews consider the Sabbath—

the most sacred of times?

Cease from travel.

Cease from buying and selling.

Give up, just for now,

on trying to make the world

different than it is.

Sing. Pray. Touch only those

to whom you commit your life.

Center down.



And when your body has become still,

reach out with your heart.

Know that we are connected

in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.

(You could hardly deny it now.)

Know that our lives

are in one another’s hands.

(Surely, that has come clear.)

Do not reach out your hands.

Reach out your heart.

Reach out your words.

Reach out all the tendrils

of compassion that move, invisibly,

where we cannot touch.


Promise this world your love--

for better or for worse,

in sickness and in health,

so long as we all shall live.

--Lynn Ungar 3/11/20

lynnungar.com

W is for We Went "Dancing in a Minefield"

This year will by our 40^th Wedding Anniversary. 

There were times over the past years that I sincerely did not think we would make it past the next day, let alone the next year. 

Even now, we are both moving into different phases of our life together.  We are older, have more health problems than we would like to admit.  We know each other too well, and yet not well enough.

The only insight I want to share is this video.  A dear friend from church showed it to me.  We both cried.