With apologies this morning to all my great friends back in the West Virginia hills, tonight the pride of my current homestate (Texas) will hold back the pride of the first state Mandy and I lived in after our wedding (West Virginia). The Longhorns take down the Mountaineers in a close one while Duke knocks out LSU in the other regional semifinal in Atlanta, setting up a Duke/Texas rematch on Saturday with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
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Yesterday, Jim and Helen Dobbs presented me with a fascinating book for my birthday. The book is titled Home to Harmony, written by Quaker minister and writer Philip Gulley.
The story is fiction, telling a fascinating tale about a minister who moves back to his hometown and assumes the pastorate of the church of his youth. It tells hilarious tales of squabbles in elders meetings and the inner working of the political machine in small town churches.
I cannot recommend Gulley's writing enough, after devouring the entire book yesterday. For a light read, with a dose of funny realism, Gulley is unmatched.
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This morning was Daddy Donut Day at school. Trae and I woke up earlier than usual so we could enjoy breakfast together at the school cafeteria.
When the bell rang for the kids to make their way to class, Trae asked me to escort her to class. I asked her if she would hold my hand.
When Trae was in kindergarten, she always wanted me to take her to class and our typical walk included holding hands from the parking lot to the classroom. One day on our walk, I told Trae how that when kids grow older, they don't like being seen in public holding hands with their daddy. Trae promised me that would never happen to us -- that she would always want to hold my hand.
But this morning she didn't want to!
Seems as though she has this little crush on a boy in her class named Daniel. When Mandy asked her over spring break what was so special about Daniel, Trae said, "I like Daniel because he has the same toothbrush as me." What sweet innocence.
As we made our way toward class, with Daniel safely out of the line of sight (Trae's head was turning left and right to survey the scene), she said, "Daddy, let's hold hands now." And we did.
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When it comes to spiritual discipline, one of the first disciplines to emphasize is the discipline of meditation. Because of the influence of eastern religion, our typical inclination of meditation likely generates thoughts of yoga or transcendental meditation.
But meditation as spoken of in scripture doesn't involve some painful posture of our bodies or some weird incantation chant. It is simply the total concentration of the mind on the thought and intent of the Word.
I'd like to challenge you today to meditate on just one verse of Scripture, John 14.27, where Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
As you meditate on that verse, think about the implications of Jesus's statement as it relates to the pursuit of peace. What is Jesus saying about the true path to peace in your life and in our world? Email me your insights (jim.gardner@hotmail.com) and tomorrow, I will come back and share with you my thoughts on the path to peace.
Meditation adds strength to our reading of the Bible. So often in our quest to be daily Bible readers and to read through our Bible in a year, we forget to pause on powerful statements in the Word to grasp the full effect of God's will. This text in John 14.27 is just one example.
