Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Family,
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> In 1789 George Washington made a proclamation to the Nation declaring a national day of thanks.
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> He said, 'Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and—Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful  hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:
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> Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation' (George Washington, Thanksgiving Day Proclamation 1789).
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> The reason for this holiday from its beginning is to acknowledge the blessings God has given us in our lives. May we keep that in the forefront of our minds as  we celebrate this year.
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> I love you and I pray for you!
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> Love,
> DaD

Love our Neighbor

Dear Family,

    This week’s message is one that I am passionate about.  It is about love.  Before we can truly love others, we have to develop love and respect for ourselves.  Then we can extend that love to others.  I challenge you to reach out to someone you may be struggling to love right now, even if you find that this someone is you. 

With Love,

DaD

Loving Our Neighbor in a Shrinking World

Our world seems to get smaller every day. Travel and communications are shrinking the distances between us. Multinational business are bridging boundaries, and ecological systems are intertwining and affecting one another.

As people are drawn closer together, we have a greater and greater effect on each other. John Donne wrote three and a half centuries ago, "No man is an island. . . ; every man is a piece of the continent." 1

We are neighbors on this steadily shrinking continent called earth, and we will all be happier as we learn to care for and cooperate with each other. Jesus said we should love our neighbor as ourselves. We may think that loving ourselves is easy. But, in fact, most disrespect for others springs from a lack of self-respect. When we feel inadequate and unworthy, we may downgrade others to try to make ourselves look better. Families, cultures, and nations can fall into this unloving relationship. History is filled with border disputes, feuds, war, and bloodshed arising from self-hatred transferred to our neighbors.

Each of us is a child of God. We are worthy and capable of receiving and giving love. As we accept this fact and humbly love ourselves, we are freed of the need to denigrate others.

Our next step on the road to loving others will probably be to love those who are like us. It is relatively easy to love people who share our opinions, lifestyles, and tastes. There is nothing wrong with loving those who are similar to us, but restricting our love to only this inner circle is very confining. We exclude the vast majority of the human race who are different from ourselves.

The next phase, then, is to learn to love others despite our differences. When we reach this point, we may feel we have arrived, but there is one more step in this journey. That is when we love others, not in spite of their differences but because of their differences. We do not ask or expect that others change to become more lovable to us. We love them as they are. This ultimate view of human relationships was described by Jesus when He said, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." 2

To reach out to those who differ from us, despise us, hate and harm us—this is the mark of true maturity as a human being. It is not easy. But it can be done. Someone must break the cycle of mutual recrimination that exists when we love only our own and hate those outside our circle.

Let us pray to God to give us courage to reach beyond our comfortable associates; wisdom to understand and appreciate the good in every person; and the strength to love even those who hate us. As we do, the binding together that is coming with our shrinking world will become, in fact, a bonding of human hearts into a better world.

^1. In John Bartlett, Familiar Quotations, edited by Emily Morison Beck (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1980), p. 254.

^2. Matthew 5:44.

"May Peace Be With You"  Music and the Spoken Word

Looking toward the Stars

Dear Family

I hope your week has been a meaningful one.  I am grateful for each of you and the great things you are putting out into this world.  I want to highlight one great quote from today’s message from Emerson, “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”  We have an amazing world that God has given us stewardship over, it is incredible.  We can learn so much about God as we reconnect with nature.

With Love,

DaD

Looking toward the Stars

Given by Lloyd D. Newell

July 14, 1996

As long as mankind has inhabited this earth, the night skies have served as a source of inspiration for shepherds, for sailors, for explorers — for all who have stood in awe before the immensity of space.

There have been those who have charted their courses across seemingly endless oceans by studying the heavens, while others have seen significance in the patterns formed by stars visible from their own backyards. Some have dreamed of discoveries waiting to be made, while others have sought to connect with the eternal implications of a frontier that knows no bounds. Some have been mystified by the depths of the night’s sky, while others have found comfort and calm as they have felt a connection with the eternal nature of the universe.

As we look into an expanse that is without beginning or end, we sense something of our own eternal nature. As we contemplate the insights that have been gained into the nature of galaxies the naked eye cannot even see, we find assurance that the unknown can become known. And, as we discover the grand designs that finite minds can scarcely comprehend, we realize that we, too, are part of a greater whole, which is guided by a loving God who governs the universe.

In the silence of the night, as one looks out into the heavens, this simple sentence by Emerson suggests at least one lesson that can be drawn from such a sight. Said he, “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”1

There is, indeed, much in the skies beyond what our eyes can see; in fact, as scientists have ever more sophisticated means to explore the heavens, we seem to find, in addition to what can now be seen, just how much we cannot yet comprehend.

One wise physicist, who had studied the mysteries of space for many years, took a small group of interested students away from the city lights late one night and showed them, with the help of a powerful telescope, parts of the universe they had only read about in their books. As his students marveled at what they saw, he set aside his usual scientific objectivity and shared his deeply held belief that what they were seeing was the work of a divine force. “I do not understand exactly how he has created what he has,” the scientist told his students, “but the more I study the heavens, the more convinced I am that we are not here by chance.”

Discovering the purpose of our lives — individually and collectively — is a challenging process at best. But sometimes we can learn much about ourselves and our world — and about Him who has given us these gifts — by waiting for the evening to come and then quietly contemplating the handiwork of God.

Note

^1. Ralph Waldo Emerson, in Richard L. Evans, An Open Door (Salt Lake City, Utah: Publishers Press, 1967), 209.

"Music and the Spoken Word"