A Wad of Worries with a Bow of Blessing (03/01/2026)

Yesterday challenged me emotionally. In one day, I was elated as I joined with more than twenty others to celebrate a beloved couple’s upcoming birth of their first child, a son. I was saddened by the events in the Middle East and the tensions that led to military actions against Iran. I was frightened when my daughter called around 7 p.m. to tell me she’d had to evacuate her home because of a broken gas main in the neighborhood. When I sat on my porch to ponder my day before turning in, I was a wad of worries with a bow of blessings. But I knew the LORD cared and could help me sort.

Life, at any moment, can be complicated. The events of this year to date have illustrated this for me. My younger brothers passed away on February 9^th. My mother celebrated her 97^th birthday on February 12^th. As Ecclesiastes reminds us, “There is a time to mourn and a time to dance.” And in this world, they can come at the same time. How do we cope? How do we manage? Loving well is simple but not easy.

I find myself praying for the Kingdom that is already but not yet. I pray that daily we might turn back to our LORD wholly, with our minds, our hearts, our actions and our whole being. I pray to the LORD for the gifts of the Spirit to guide us and the grace of the LORD to strengthen us because life is challenging and we’ve gotten it wrong so many times. My prayer is for myself, my family, my friends, but also for our world, for those I do not know but with whom I share a common beginning, our loving LORD. I pray for all those whom my savior gave His life to save, and I realize it involves many I’d never invite to dinner, but the LORD pushes me to consider that and what it means for us as a world.

Today is the 2^nd Sunday of Lent. We still have weeks of our Lenten journey in faith, hope and love. Today I recognized profoundly in my prayer that while there is much going on around me, my “job” this Lent is about me. I pray to the LORD that He “re-create” me so that I might more fully comprehend that I am called to open myself to Him, to turn to Him, and to be an instrument of change by allowing myself to change.

As I begin my day with the Prayer of St. Francis, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,” I realize deeply that is my calling, to be leaven in this imperfect world for love of the LORD and others. There will be more days ahead that challenge me fiercely as those of the recent past have. May we all be open to what the LORD can do with us, through us, and in us if we are open to Him, His grace and love.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.