​Good Friday
 
On this day many Christians remember the suffering and death of Christ on the cross between the two thieves.  If one googles the question of why call such a day good  one will get many theories.  Of course, the simplest answer would be the “spoiler alert”; the fact that the end of the story – the resurrection -  is already known.    For me, however, the story of Good Friday, reminds me that not much is important except the footprint which I and others live and leave today. Today I am especially cognizant of the fact that I am surrounded by many people whose footprint will be one of unconditional love.  I just had a call from a friend who was shopping in Walmart. She had “run into” or “struck up a conversation” with a woman who has just left a violent relationship.  My friend wanted me to remind her where this woman could get a free basket of Easter food.   My friend had already made sure that the woman knew of the services of the Women’s Shelter and the Domestic Violence Prevention Program offered through the YWCA.
 
Earlier this morning I listened to a rebroadcast of an On Being podcast conversation between host Krista Tippett and Wangari Maarhai, a Nobel Peace Prize winner.  Her Kikuyu culture gave her a blend of different beliefs about sacred. From the nuns at the Catholic School she attended she took a deep reverence for core values.  From the culture of our ancestors she took  a sense of the sacred.   It was only when she became an adult biologist that she  could more fully allow the various teachings to blend together to create the meal she offered to many.   The fig tree story perfectly illustrates this point.  As a child when she gathered firewood she was told not to gather even fallen branches from the fig tree.  She was told that it was a sacred tree but was not told why it was considered sacred.  As an adult scientist she would learn that the fig tree has large roots which extend deep into the earth breaking up some of the rocks and opening sources of water.  Its large spreading branches would also do a lot to prevent erosion of the soil and mud slides.      When this ancient wisdom was ignored the fig trees were cut down to make room for tea and coffee plants which could not do what the fig trees did to maintain harmony between humans and mother earth.  The work of Wangari Maarhai helped restore that balance.   Her scientific education and her reverence for core values that she leaned from the Catholic nuns blended with the ancient wisdom of her ancestors to  allow her to do much of the healing work she accomplished.
 
When I think of Good Friday I think of core values which allow one to stand back to begin to appreciate that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. In my mind if I am to leave a footprint which honors the sacred I must honor the fact that every thought and every action of mine impacts the entire universe.  When I. do not take time to love unconditionally, fear, and even hate happens.   If I allow myself to look for truth only in one culture or tradition I will miss the wisdom of which each has a piece.  
 
In my mind the basic laws of physics make sense. In my mind the kitchen table wisdom of my grandmother and her grandmother is wisdom given long before we had the tools and language of science.   In my mind Good Friday is good because Jesus did not sell his core values for a few more days of this life journey.  He knew each action of ours creates the life which lives on for eternity. There is no death. There is only change.  The fig tree is indeed sacred.
 
Written April 19, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org

​Holy Thursday
For those who use what I call the framework of Christianity, today is Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday.  The setting is what is what is referred to as The Last Supper.  The word Maundy is derived from the Latin word for command.  When used in connection with Holy Thursday it refers to Jesus’ commandment to his disciples to “Love one another as I have loved you.”    Already on this  day I have received many challenges  to live this commandment.  For example:

• I listened to my son’s interview with the author and artist Darrell Fusaro who authored the book What if Godzilla Just Wanted a Hug? Leading with the Heart Instead of Chin. Among many inspirational stories in this book he talks about his introduction to the power of love from a hard core Marine.
• A mother shared her story of being able to get her son out of jail to get the medical exam he needed for admission to an addiction rehabilitation program. Her consistent and respectful love never wavers. She is blessed to have the emotional, financial, and spiritual resources to help him.  She honors his decisions but is there when he is ready to do what he needs to do.
• A young man calls to reconnect following a period of being angry at me for not telling him what he wanted to hear. My moral duty was to continue to love him without any expectations or conditions.
• I read in today’s newspaper of the ongoing bully behavior the government of these United States will use against some other American nations because our government disapproves of their socialist approach. In the meantime, in this country we continue to reduce programs designed to help “the least of these”, put the mentally ill, including addicts, in jail and then expect them to get well.

On this Holy Thursday whether we are Christian, Jew, Hindu, Hahira kristrna . Buddhist or use some other spiritual framework to explore our purpose Jesus, the teacher, challenges us to ask:

• Will we build a table or a wall?
• Who will we invite to the table?
• Who will we love and who will we exclude?
• How much power will be given to our fear of accepting and giving love?
• Who will help us take the log out of our eye?

Witten April 18, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org

​Easter?
 
While listening to the Ted Radio Hour Ruby Sales suddenly made another appearance in my life.  Recently  I heard a rebroadcast of an interview with her by Krista Tibbett.    She, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Karl Barth and many other mentors daily pop into my conscience via the internet, radio, book or some communication vehicle.  This morning I was reminded of program hosted by the Bethlehem Apostolic Tempe to deliver baskets of food for Easter dinner.   Several other churches or other civic organizations may host similar programs.  Some churches and other organizations have ongoing ministries to immigrants arriving at our Southern border, to those in prison, to those living with addiction, to those who need clothes, to those who need food, and to those who need the comfort of a hug or a listening ear.
 
Most churches which like to think of themselves as “preaching the  gospel of Christ” will have reenactments of the events of the last days of Jesus.  They may host daily services during which they will remind the parishioners of the teachings of Jesus.   They may even remember the words of the Jesus who said that when one feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, visit the sick, or minister to those in prison you do this for me. Nice sounding words and deeds as long as none of those people disturb the dignified service.   Most religious leaders will recount the His words when on the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
 
Nicely and appropriately groomed families will leave the church feeling good and eager to enjoy an Easter dinner at home or at a local restaurant. Some will visit family members in jail; family members who are often in jail because of an addiction or other mental illness.  All. class and races will not be equally represented in jail cells.  Some have the means for bail or a highly talented attorney.  Some people  may have volunteered to work a shift at The Soup Kitchen or some other place serving dinner to those who are “food challenged”.  Food challenged!  Really!  Why not say hungry?
 
In many homes warnings will be delivered to dinner guests to not discuss politics, abortion,  immigration, gun rights or other topics which are likely to elicit emotional reactions.
 
Ironically, many who want to be  “good Christians” will be the most vigilant about ensuring that Jesus is not invited to church, Sunday dinner, immigrant holding facilities, jails or other places where he would likely be arrested for disturbing the peace or the religious serenity of righteous, well behaved Christians.
 
Jesus would likely make those who are being called socialists or the far left seem conservative.   Jesus was a radical, outspoken, rule breaking, apparent homeless, unemployed misfit who exemplified the Buddhist principle of letting go of or not becoming attached to what others said about him or even to applying the time test to this life journey. He did not write erudite theological or philosophical tombs on the meaning or purpose of life.  He simply showed up with love and clarity of intentions.
 
Some will follow his example and show up with love in the jails, in homeless camps or park benches, in the bars  or the back alleys.  They may not have on their  Easter church costume or intone all the  “right prayers”.   A few misfits might show up in Churches, synagogues, temples or the mosques.  One might show up at the dinner table.  Likely Jesus will show up in the body of  young child who most will ignore or, at best, find cute.  Likely  this child  will respond to some story of injustice with  a simple “That is stupid.”  If we are lucky we will  recognize and embrace The Teacher on this Easter weekend.
 
Written April 17,2019
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org
 
 
 
 
 

​Liquid Sunshine
 
The Story Circle prompt for April was to write about rainy days and showers.   I immediately thought of my friend Becky who refers to rain as liquid sunshine.  Becky’s dance of life is almost always focused on what is possible; on what new opportunities are opened as a result of whatever life brings.  I am not suggesting she welcomes illness – her own or a friend’s, the destruction caused by war or so-called natural disasters.  She has and will continue to grieve deeply for the loss of  mother, sister-in-law, adored cousin and many others. She also mourns when natural disasters steal homes and entire communities.  The illness of an adored pet sharply tugs at her heart strings.  Yet, I have never known Becky to allow grief to consume her; to prevent her from focusing her attention and energy on what needs to be done; what she can learn.  She is, after all, an educator.   Working with Becky on various community projects has always been a source of joy and a challenge to limit my whining.   She is often the first to ask, “What is the short- and long-term goals?  What are the moral principles or ethics which will form the boundaries of the path we choose?”
 
Project or task meetings which Becky is chairing are focused, brief and on track.   I never worry about getting bored or having time to write the Pulitzer Prize winning 1000-page novel while a meeting she chairs grinds on and on and on!
 
It comes as no surprise that Becky might often be the lone person thanking the gods of rain for the liquid sunshine.  Liquid sunshine will bring forth not only the flowers, melt the now dirty snow or provide relief to the summer heat, it will call forth the muse of ideas, dreams, and the promise of a kinder, gentler world. Liquid sunshine creates this cocoon which calls forth the quiet from which will spring the new workshop on dealing with change.  It will call forth new words of comfort as she pens notes of sympathy, empathy, congratulations, and sometimes challenge.   She is the consummate educator always choregraphing a dance of life which is comforting, challenging and full of joy.
 
When I have a pile of work on my desk or am wrestling with the muse to write a report or my daily blog I channel the  Becky spirit of  liquid sunshine. At first, it falls in gentle drops. Eventually it may arrive as a thunderstorm of ideas; of new opportunities.  I also channel the spirit of liquid sunshine when I have a long list of chorettes or when I need to face new grief.  The spirit of liquid sunshine often arrives with a warm sweater of memory which will hold the pieces of me together while the shards of grief pour out.
 
The fact that I am writing this on Palm Sunday; a day to celebrate the triumphant entrance of the Prince of Peace to the city; a day which we know will be followed by the rain of fear, anger, betrayal and ultimately the cross.  Yet, we also know it will bring us to the empty tomb and the promise of new life; of new opportunities to have the liquid sunshine wash away the mistakes or sins of the past; of a new dance in which we feed the stranger, clothe the naked, look after the sick, give drink to the thirsty, and visit those in jail. (Matthew 25:37)
 
Written April 16, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org

Lenten Meditation - #40
 
The suggested gospel lesson is John 13:21-33 and 36-38 in which Jesus predicts the betrayal of Judas and the denial of Peter.   This lesson is, I think, at the heart of the Lenten season.  Us humans are the only species of life which refuse to accept themselves as they are.  History is rife with examples of us attempting to pretend to be more than or better than each other and even other species of life.    The irony or paradox is that because we do not think of ourselves as enough we distance ourselves from ourselves and each other.  We then attempt to fill the void with power, money,  sex or food. We may numb ourselves with alcohol, other drugs, a physical pain, some other substance or temporary filler.  This leaves us more disconnected and with the pain of shame and even disgust.  We distance ourselves even more which necessitates more shameful behavior which leads to more disconnection.   Obviously, it can be a never-ending vicious cycle.  No wonder we often find it difficult to admit that we were wrong; that we hurt someone; that we did whatever it is that we did.    Often it seems as if our way of hurting ourselves and others is so much worse than what others have done that we cannot possibility admit what we did.   Daily it seems we betray our own humanness.  That is, when we judge ourselves and others we reject ourselves as the humans we are.   As humans, we get impatient, fearful, jealous, spiteful, blaming, shameful, resentful, angry and hurtful.  Daily we are kind, generous, gracious, welcoming, accepting and loving.  We are capable of all these emotions and actions.  Yet, we are shocked by our humanness and all too often slithter off to a shameful  corner or build a shield of  a combination of steel,  self-righteousness, anger and blame.
 
The sub-title of Greg Boyle book Barking to the Choir is Radical Kindship.  This is the relationship Jesus is offering to all those including Peter, Judas and even those responsible for sentencing him to death by crucifixion.  From the cross he will ask, “Father Forgive them for they know not what they do.”  This is the relationship which Jesus is suggesting that the God of His understanding has offered to each of us. This is the relationship that Jesus says we are to offer each other; a relationship of radical kindship; a relationship of equals; a relationship which accepts and loves unconditionally; a relationship which always sets a place at the table without asking that one first undergo a drug test or a background check.  Others may ask, “Do you know who that person is?  Do know what they done?”    We will reply, “This is a human just like you and me. That is all we need to know. Set the table for a special guest. Your brother or sister is coming home.”
 
This relationship of radical kinship is what we are offered. This is the relationship we are called to offer each other this week and every week.
 
April 15, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

​Meditations for Lent - #39
 
For many in the Western Christian Church today is Psalm Sunday – the beginning of Holy week when the story of Jesus being celebrated as He enters Jerusalem is told.  We all know, of course, the trial, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is a part of the story.  Although many will reenact each segment of this journey and attempt to imagine what it was like for Jesus, His followers, His enemies and the thieves on either side of him, we know and are preparing for the celebration next Sunday.  Even for those who celebrate the coming of a new season -  spring where I am and fall in other parts of the planet – the outcome of the story is clear.  Despite changes in weather pattern and storms which one cannot predict, the new season will arrive. 
 
We all know, of course, that our life journey will follow a similar, predictable pattern. We  have been conceived, born and will live a certain number of days. Not surprisingly most of us will act as if we have all the time in the world.  We may occasionally read the obituaries and notice, as I did this morning, that in addition to infant deaths there were several deaths of people much younger than one.  For a second one might think that perhaps one might want to be more intentional about how one lives one’s life today.  One might, for a second, face the reality that this life journey, at best, is very brief.  Although most will not face a death as physically and emotionally painful as being nailed to a cross, we will soon be dead.  All those tasks which seemed so urgent and important are suddenly not so important.  The opportunity to visit with a dear friend, embrace a child or a partner,  feed the  homeless stranger, drink in the new life,  witness the glory of the changing of the colors or thousands of other daily gifts we take for granted because we have all the time in the world may not be possible. 
 
All of us have often, I am sure, been reminded to live each day – each moment of each day – as if one knows that it is one’s last.  We intend to do that. We really do.  Yet soon life seems to take over and  that opportunity has passed.  We or someone with whom we have been close  have ended this life journey.  That stranger who was hungry has been found dead of starvation. That person who has not experienced human touch for many days or even years, is discovered to have died alone. 
 
Jesus has a triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Many stop to welcome him  by spreading cloaks on the ground before him.  Many others are much too busy. Soon it will be time for the crucifixion and the opportunity will have passed. We may console ourselves with the knowledge that He rose many years ago.  Yet in the back of our mind we remember the question:
“ ‘Lord when did we see you hungry, or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you. He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for the least of these, you did not do for me.’”
 
Written April 14,2019
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org

​Meditations for Lent. - #38
 
The recommended Gospel reading for today. Is John 11:45-56.  This section of John deals with the increasing fear if left alone, Jesus would attract more followers putting the temple and the nation in danger of being taken by the Romans. At least this is the stated fear.  The history of the Jewish people had been such that this fear seemed reasonable to many. The began to form a plot to take the life of Jesus.  
 
It is not surprising to many of us that, even without a traumatic history many of us can be fearful of change on a personal, community or national level.  Sometimes we convince ourselves that it is better to stay in a negative situation that we know than it is to risk a new situation.   Often, individuals and families rebuild  in an area which is prone to severe flooring, destructive forest fires or other disasters.  We like the illusion of security even though we know change is the only constant.  Many today are fearful of changes in religious institutions, in the role of women, in the inclusions of different cultures and religion. There has, for example, been a sharp increase in the number of white supremacist groups.   Following the establishment of the Jewish State after the horrors of  World War Ill, the nation of Israel has become violently protective and willing to claim and hold on to land which needs, at the very least, to be shared with Palestine.  Palestinians have used violence against the Jewish while peaceful groups on both sides have continue to break bread together and to get to know each other as people first and members of different cultures and religions as secondary.
 
A tough winter is nearly over for much of the United States.  Despite a winter storm this week spring will continue to bring new life.  In order for the new life to arrive the old had to die or in some case enter a  winter state such as when certain trees lose their leaves in the fall or some plants enter an apparent dormant state. This winter many of my rose bushes will not be making a spring appearance. They will completely return to the earth helping to form the soil for new growth.   Many changes open up new opportunity.   A fire this winter caused severe damage to a local plant. Many in the community made generous donations.  There was money left over after the needed repairs were made.  I just read that this money is being set aside to help employees of the plant. The plant and the local Catholic Charites are teaming up to fund a program to provide help if employees face a financial emergency. The owners of this plant offer many second and third chances to folks recovery from addiction or other life struggles.
 
Sometimes we run to our bedroom, get under the comforter, cover our head and hide  when changes occur.  Sometimes, as with Jesus, we demonize the one who brings change.  Yet, new life will emerge even after the crucifixion.  This is the promise and the hope to which we need to hold fast.   Even tragic change brings new opportunity to learn and to create something good such as happened following the fire and subsequent repairs at the local plant. We continue to have a new opportunity to learn from the cruel, tragic history of the Holocaust.  It did not happen in a vacuum.  Many played a role in creating the conditions which allow for such horrendous actions.   Each of us has an opportunity to speak out against injustice at all levels.   Martin Neimoeller following his release from Dachau said:  In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communist and I didn’t speak up because I was not a communist.  Then they came for the Jew and I didn’t speak up because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn’t speak up because I was not a trade unionist. The they came for the Catholics, but I didn’t speak up because I was a protestant. Then they came for the me, and, by that time, there was no one left of speak up for me.”   His point needs to be heeded. The fact that they first came for the mentally retarded and later came for many different groups including the mentally ill, the sick, the old, those convicted of a crime, the homosexual and a host others only reinforces his point.  Health care professionals, attorneys, doctors, clerics, and many others kept silent about injustice to those who often did not have a voice.
 
We may get fearful of the message of change. We may get so fearful that we punish or even kill the messenger.  Each time we allow fear to determine our actions we become co-conspirators in the creation of the conditions which result in yet another crucifixion.   This life journey is very brief. All we own is our integrity.  We will all die but we can choose how we will live today.  We are reminded by Bigger Thomas in Richard Wright’s Native Son, “You can’t do nonthin but kill me and that ain’t nonthin.”
 
Written April 13, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
 
 

​ 
 
Meditations for Lent - #37
 
The suggested Gospel reading for today is John 10:31-42.  Once again, on the surface, it seems as if what Jesus is reported to have said is a contradiction of what is elsewhere recorded.  In this passage Jesus points to His good works as proof that he is acting on behalf of His father.   Elsewhere in Ephesians and Romans one is reminded that one is saved by Grace and not by works. If we read more carefully, the concern is that someone will think that they can do good works as a way of proving their worth.  We all know of  individuals and companies who will use a small or even significant part of their profit to benefit some charitable  cause or community treasure such as a symphony orchestra. Often these very same companies are overcharging customers for a product they must have for their health care or their small business.   The purpose of their contribution is to make it seems as if they care about the community while they continue to take advantage of the essential needs of customers.  They are not doing good works because they care about others in the community.  No, bless their hearts, they are trapped in the belief or hope that the community or the God of their understanding will not notice the sleight of hand.
 
It is true that good people do good works They take care of the homeless, the hungry, the abused, the weary of heart, the one who has lost his or her way, the one who is an enemy, the sick, the one who has been bullied and the one who has bullied.  They do so because they are grateful for the blessings or the Grace of the God of their understanding. They do not do so to earn Grace but out of a knowledge and appreciation of Grace.  They, therefore, do so not needing or expecting anything in return but because they need to pass on what has so freely been given to them.   
 
Jesus performed good works because it was the next right action to take. We are called or invited to do the same.  When we allow ourselves to act on Grace and not as if we are earning Grace it is very powerful.  This is the essence of the message of Jesus when he says that “ I have shown you many good works from the father.”  The father needs nothing from his children except for them to pass on what has been freely given to them.  Even if, however, they refuse to pass it on, the father continues to  extend His hand.  This is what we are called to do – to extend our hand not to win awards or praises but to show what Grace looks like – what good works without expectations or demands look like.


Written April 12, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org

​Meditations for Lent - #36
 
The Gospel lesson suggested tor today is John 8:51-59.  Verse 51 sets the stage for the confusion and what seems to be a ridiculous claim.  Jesus is alleged to have said, “Very truly, I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”  Those listening to him are sure that they have now won the debate and can dispose of this imposter.  Obviously Abraham and the prophets died.   Jesus replies not only did he know Abraham he is glorified by God, his father.  In the end Jesus slips off before they can stone him.
 
Jesus was speaking long  before we knew, in a sense, all our ancestors live within us.   DNA analysis can trace the migration of all our ancestors from the time they left Africa.  When Jesus was speaking we did not yet fully understand or prove that energy is neither created nor destroyed.   Yet, in the midst of this ignorance the prophet Jesus proclaims the truth of eternal life.   The story of Good Friday and Easter seemingly confirm that in fact if we keep His word we will have eternal life.  Many believe this to be the literal truth. Who can say it is not.  Certainly. many studies seem to prove that the energy which forms our essence continues to exist long after our clinical death.  Yet, we know the physical body will return to dust and come back as all forms of matter. Is Jesus then speaking  truths we are just now able to accept and understand or are the literalists right after all?  Does it matter?
 
The word to which Jesus often referred was both logos and rhema; both the spoken work and the written word.  His spoken word was his dance of life.  All of us have a life dance - a way of moving though this life journey even if confined to a bed or wheel chair. Our way of moving may communicate a passion for life, a weariness, a sense of  hope, despair, a welcome or a barrier.  The dance of Jesus was his rhema which confirmed his logos.  He welcomed and embraced the prodigal son.  He refused to judge the prostitute or the woman who committed adultery. From the cross he would cry, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”  Our dance of life in an infusion of positive or negative energy or a shut door to all we encounter.  We do not even have to physically see a person(s) to live through them.  I suspect all of us have entered a home or even a hotel room and felt the negative or positive energy left there. I have refused to stay in some hotel rooms because I knew I could not rest in the midst of the pain left there.
 
It is both the logos and the rhema – the written and spoken word – which provides the keys to eternal life.  When we refuse to accept or give love; when we judge ourselves or others; when we refuse to hold up the “least of these”; when we think we are less then or more than we die and we kill all that we encounter.
 
We can live. We can breathe new life into the broken, the hopeless, the traumatized, the one judged to be unforgivable or unlovable.   We can accept new life.
 
Written April 11, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org

Meditations for Lent - #35
 
The suggested Gospel lesson for today is John 8:31-42, a passage in which Jesus is quoted as saying, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth will make you free.”  The Jews to whom he is talking are confused  because do not see themselves as slaves.  Jesus goes on to tell them, “…everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”   The reader will recall that elsewhere Jesus acknowledges that all of us sin.   Thus, none of us have a right to judge or throw stones at another.  In this  lesson in John Jesus again suggests that all can be free – that He can make us free. 
 
Of course, all of us, if we are honest with ourselves and not using our very fine mind to rationalize our hurtful and disconnecting behavior, has to admit that we daily by our action or lack of action behave in a way which is hurtful to others or some other essential part of the well-balanced universe.   The good news which the teacher Jesus brings is that no matter how disconnected we are from ourselves, each other and the rest of the universe we can be reconnected.  All we have to do is to honestly say we want to be reconnected – again assume our essential role in the working of the universe –  do our best not to repeat the same disconnecting behavior -  and we will be reconnected.  Of course, we will soon do something else which upsets the balance and will again have to say that we want to be reconnected. This is obviously a daily or even an hourly task.
 
Many of us pride ourselves on not committing sin or hurtful/disconnecting behavior X, but we will in search vain for reassurance from Jesus (or other spiritual teachers such as Buddha) for a list of unforgivable sins.  Jesus does not seem to understand or accept that judging others, stealing, murder, rape, neglect of children,  abusing a child or a partner are all different levels of sin. Some are forgivable and some are not.  He seems to treat all sinful behavior the same.   When they bring the adulterous woman to the temple he says  that all those without sin throw the first stone.   He does not say that all those without level X sins throw the first stone. When Jesus is observed chatting with the prostitute he does not say he did not realize the seriousness of her sin.  When Peter and others deny him or the legal officials attach him to the cross he asks God for forgiveness on their  behalf.
 
Jesus says in order to be reconnected we must first accept that we have disconnected.    If we  allow fear to keep us trapped in denial we cannot accept the invitation to be reconnected.   The God of our understanding is not refusing us anything.  He is merely patiently waiting for us to summon the courage to open to our own pain; our own loneliness; our own disillusionment with the delusion of the gilded cage.
 
I am sure all of us will continue to rank ourselves and others by the sin level of each of us. Yet the good news is that Jesus does not hesitate to open His arms to welcome each of us back to the table; to welcome each of us home. No sin can keep us disconnected from the “I am” which is the whole of all that is.  This the dangerous, simple, hard to swallow good news.  There are no exceptions.
 
Written April 10, 2019
Jimmy F. Pickett
Coachpickett.org