A Geek’s Look at Salvation

Dear Lord; Good morning Father!

Over the last couple weeks Father, it seems that I’ve been performing more and more data recovery services at my office.  It’s actually work that I enjoy; taking a damaged hard drive where the contents have been rendered inaccessible and extracting the client’s seemingly lost bits of information contained therein.  It’s a puzzle sometimes, and each drive has it’s own nuances that requires specific “massaging” to get to the data.

For the client, it’s a time of trial to be sure.  Critical business data, family photos, tax returns or years of childhood videos may hang in the balance.  People tend to underestimate the importance and value of the information they entrust to their computers these days, and when it’s not there all of a sudden it can be quite a shock.  In the end, It’s a wonderfully satisfying feeling for me to hand them back something precious that they thought was lost to them forever.

Hold on… That’s what You do for us!

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” – Ephesians 2:4-5

We bring our lost and broken selves to Your Feet Lord, and through Your Son Jesus Christ we are “recovered” and made whole again.  You return to us the most precious part of ourselves, and delight in doing so.

I never thought of you as a fellow geek Father… I like it.  🙂

Heavenly Father, thank You for “recovering me” from my sin and brokenness.  Please continue to fill my spirit with new and beautiful “data”, and assist me in promoting Your Wondrous Service to others.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

We understand, both you and I

Dear Lord; Good morning Father!

Father, today marks the birth of someone who greatly influenced my early years, as well as the lives of many other children throughout the world.  And while he’s no longer with us here, the legacy he left behind continues to inspire, educate and delight those who read his works.  I’m of course speaking of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known by his pen name of Dr. Seuss.

While he made a point of not speaking to any one religion or group in his writings, his messages of tolerance, understanding and peace were obvious and recurring themes in the books he wrote.  Through whimsical characters, engaging stories and tongue-twisting rhymes he made learning fun while passing along the underlying positive messages to his young audience.  Even as an adult, I still get a smile reading his stories.

The one published exception to his self-imposed rule of not writing works with obvious religious connotations came in a full-page, full-color article in the December 23, 1955 issue of Collier’s Magazine, where he wrote “A Prayer for a Child”* :

“From here on earth,
From my small place
I ask of You
Way out in space:
Please tell all men
In every land
What You and I
Both understand . . .

Please tell all men
That Peace is Good.
That’s all
That need be understood
In every world
In Your great sky.

(We understand.
Both You and I.)” – Theodor Seuss Geisel

Heavenly Father, thank You for the gifts this man brought to me and to so many other children.  While his words may not specifically carry Your name, Your Light shone brightly through his works all the same.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

*The poem and image used are Trademark and Copyright of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P.

Kindness is Contagious

Dear Lord; Good morning Father!

In recent months Father, my children have become much more observant of the people around them and the things they say and do.  This of course has led to LOTS of questions about behaviors and mannerisms, and why people act in certain ways.  Following a car ride we took over the weekend, I started thinking much more in-depth about what they’re asking and the responses I’ve been giving them.

“Why do people throw trash on the ground?” asked Aidan as he looked out the car window Saturday afternoon.  “Because sometimes, people can be lazy and selfish I’m afraid.” I responded.  A little further down the road, I put my turn signal on to move over into a different lane.  When I did so, instead of making space to let me in the driver of the car next to me closed the gap between themselves and the car in front of them, effectively preventing the lane-change.  Sensing my annoyance, one of the boys piped up “Why’d they do that?”.  “Because sometimes people only think about themselves.” I replied.

As I look back on that ride, I’m a little disappointed by the answers I gave to the boys.  These were prime openings for much deeper discussions about how our actions or inactions can affect others, and how with little acts of kindness and thoughtfulness we can make a real difference in the lives of those around us.  Little things like holding onto your napkin from lunch until you find a trash can, or moving aside when you see someone with their turn signal on cost us very little effort,  and yet can be the difference between a smile and “the last straw” of someone’s day.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” – Colossians 3:12 (NIV)

In the same respect Lord, I am also convicted by my own words as well.  In a rush to get to work in the morning, how many times have I cut someone off without thinking about it?  How many times have I not stopped to help someone in need when I truly could have?  How often have I focused on situations in my own life instead of trying to reach out to others going through difficult times?  I do try to be a good person and show kindness and comfort to others, but if I’m brutally honest with myself I know I can do more.

Heavenly Father, please help guide me to be a source of compassion, support and understanding to those around me.  Lead me to reach out in the spirit of Your Love, and to show that Light to others.  Kindness is contagious Lord; Please aid me in starting an epidemic.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

The Lord Was With Him

Dear Lord; Happy Monday Father!

Wow Father, what a busy weekend!  Between projects for work, helping the kids with homework, cleaning, laundry, dishes and cooking I think the craziness at the office will seem a little easier this morning.  🙂  Either way, I was Blessed to spend lots of time with people I love and was wonderfully productive so for that I thank You!

Along with the plethora of activity this weekend Lord, I was able to spend some time with Your Book reading in Genesis.  For some reason, I was drawn to the narrative of Joseph and reread it several times.  It made enough of an impact on me Father, that with Your indulgence I’d like to discuss this important story this morning.

Following Joseph’s betrayal at the hands of his brothers and being sold into slavery, he was taken to Egypt and sold into the service of one of Pharaoh’s officials named Potiphar.

“The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.  When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant.  Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.  From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph.  The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.” – Genesis 39:2-5 (NIV)

This really struck several points with me Father.  First off, it must have been very obvious to Joseph’s master that You were with him to bestow that level of trust to a slave so quickly.  I so want Your Light to shine through me like that! Secondly, through the trust placed in Joseph by Potiphar, his household became Blessed as well.  This emphasized a very significant truth to me as well Lord; If we show Your Light to those around us, we Bless them as well!

But as you know Father, Joseph’s trials didn’t end there.  He was later falsely accused and imprisoned, and yet his faith in You was stalwart.  Even then, It was evident to the jailer that You were by his side and he was therefore placed in charge of the other prisoners.

“So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there.” – Genesis 39:22 (NIV)

This position then led to his encounter with two of Pharaoh’s officials who had offended the king and been imprisoned for their indiscretions.  Through Your Voice, Joseph interpreted dreams from each man, the events of which then came to pass as described.  However, the official that had promised favor for Joseph upon his release quickly forgot his vow, and Joseph remained incarcerated for two more years.

And yet, Joseph’s faith never wavered.

Then Pharaoh had some dreams which left him troubled.  He called on the expertise of his magicians and wise men, but none could provide a meaning for the nighttime messages.  Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer, whom Joseph had aided those two years prior was suddenly reminded of his accurate reading, and made Pharaoh aware of Joseph’s ability.  Joseph was then summoned, and again through Your Voice was able to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams.  Yet again, Your Presence in Joseph was so obvious that Pharaoh placed him in charge of his palace and of all his subjects, second only in authority to the king.

“Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”” – Genesis 41:39-40 (NIV)

With his newly found position, Joseph went to work preparing Egypt for the famine which had been prophesized to come.  Once again, Joseph’s rock-solid faith not only granted him Blessings in his own life, but also Blessed those around him as well.

Heavenly Father, thank You for placing Joseph’s example in my heart this weekend.  I pray that I can find the strength to be as faithful, as dedicated and as courageous as he was in Your Service.  May Your Light be that obvious in me, so those I encounter have no doubt of Your Influence in my life.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

In His Skillful Hands

Dear Lord; Good afternoon Father.

Thank You Lord, for starting my day off so pleasantly this morning.  I always like waking to the sound of Your Voice in my head, especially when the message is “Today is a Good Day”.  Well, it’s just after lunchtime here now and so far it truly has been as you prepared me; A good day.  🙂

In the beginning of the year Father, You gave me a word to focus my energies and prayers on.  It wasn’t a word I would have chosen sans Your intervention, but You were quite insistent at the time as I remember so I adopted it as my own.  The word was Accept.

Today Lord, I thought I’d discuss a couple of the ways “our” word choice has impacted me thus far, and presented itself in my life.

The beginning of “The Serenity Prayer” comes immediately to mind Father :

“God, grant me the serenity to Accept the things I cannot change…” – Reinhold Niebuhr

As You know, this has always been a rough one for me Lord.  Many of my most significant upsets have come from situations which I have little or no control over.  With Your help, I’ve been working on this flaw in my character and I can honestly say that we’ve made some progress.  I still have more than a few stresses in my life right now, but I’ve learned to better Accept those things which I can’t fix and focus my efforts on the ones I can make positive change in.

Along those same lines Father, I’m learning to Accept assistance more readily from others as well.  I’ve always prided myself (I know… another nasty word, but we’re making progress on that flaw too.) on being reasonably independent, but through my journey to You I’ve realized that You put us all here together for a reason.  When I can help someone, I should but I also need to be open to Accepting help from others as well.  It’s still a struggle sometimes for me to show that vulnerability, but I’m happy to say that barrier is lower than it used to be.

Needless to say, I now understand why You chose this word for me.  I obviously have some significant room for growth and Acceptance appears to be the key to much of that.

Heavenly Father, thank You for continuing to Guide me in Your Grace.  I am but clay in Your Skillful Hands, eager to be molded into a form which can best serve Your Will.  Amen.

~Phather Phil