Mind and Spirit Blogger

"Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children."    I think about many dear children  I think about my children, your children.   I  often hear stories about how people unintentionally adversely affect them by the things they say and do.  In my travels, I've learned a very Important psychodynamic counseling principle, " children learn what is modeled to" them." In other words, how we behave is how they will behave.      As a pastoral counselor, what  I read in this verse is that God is teaching us the same Principle." imitate God" !  as our loving parent, God wants to teach us Everything he knows.  Everything we need to know about life.       The reading goes on to speak about living a life of love .  Because of love, Jesus submits to his father's bidding. Jesus allowed himself to be sacrificed for us! Is that as imitators of God what we are called to do?  I know many parents who would throw them

I write a lot, and after I suffered a stroke in 2009, I was determined to continue writing. Twelve years later, as I look back at some of my work, I am appalled at the typographical and grammatical errors I made in my essays.  Adding further to my dismay, I realized that I posted them on the internet for all to see! Vision impairments resulting from the stroke had caused me to skip spaces and make multiple spelling errors. Although I was not known as a perfectionist in my writing skills, I could get by with very few mistakes in most of my writings before the stroke.  Now I find that  I must relearn the rules of basic grammar.  Comma usage, writing in an active voice, and avoiding run-on sentences are common mistakes that I  make.  After years of writing blog posts, I can go back and correct the errors I made and move forward. I can do this because I found a program on the internet that corrects common mistakes in writing. At first, I settled for using the free version.  Then I decided

Last spring, I listened to pastor Bob preach a Sunday morning message.  Later that day, I sat on my deck under my new but cheap $39.00 blue umbrella and reflected on the morning's sermon. It was a mild spring day. The scattered clouds overhead floated slowly past the sun. At times the sun is hidden by the clouds. Hiding behind the clouds and then reappearing, brightening up the day.  I find as I sit here, I discover there are benefits from the sun, as it does both hides and shows up.  When the sun shows up and is shining brightly, I experience its warmth, and the world around me reflects the sun's brilliance. When the sun is shining brightly and has not hidden behind a cloud, I also can begin to feel the heat that will eventually send me inside to the comfort of my airconditioned living room. On the other hand, as the sun hides behind a large gray cloud, I am provided with cooling breezes, which can be a relief from the sun's blazing heat.   Bob Disher could be right; it i