You don’t have to lose your values to be a good neighbor.  Just perform a service.  This is a prayer for those locked down in a nursing home or hospital.

                                                            The Lord’s Freedom

Oh, Father of all, if it pleases you that for a while I surrender the freedom

That you gratuitously granted me,

I can bear it, for the sake of my loved ones and for your sake,

Who has granted me health, appetite, and sustenance.

To be able to speak to you and thank you for all you have done

Is freedom enough for now.

I look forward to the ultimate freedom you have promised

To those who trust in you.

I take you at your word,

For your word is as good as the eons leading up to this moment.

Were you a false prophet, you could not have changed the history

Of civilization the way you did – believer by believer.

For you not only granted freedom from sin,

But freedom from anguish, some pain, and animosity.

Freedom from many adverse consequences,

And last of all, freedom from death.

I find it easier to forgive when I am reminded of the words, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  That’s one big incentive.  I am occasionally in need of forgiveness, too, and I don’t want to leave any obstacles in the path.

That doesn’t mean it has to be the same sin.  Forgiveness is a general term, and we shouldn’t think that ours was only a small sin.  It depends on him who was offended.  I like to clear the deck and start off even again.

As for revenge, that is definitely wrong.  If you are a member of Judeo-Christian civilization, don’t even think of it.

It’s not a nice feeling.  I’ve taught in two school districts, and one I was glad to leave because even my chairman hated me.  I couldn’t quite figure out the cause;  what I came up with is not worthy of America.  The chairman came in to observe my teaching the day after the Northeast Coast Blackout back in the sixties and noted that my kids had not done their homework.

I consoled myself with the fact that the greatest humanitarian was hated in some places; it is recorded that the people even tried to stone him.  He changed the face of our civilization.  He was the greatest teacher ever; his name was Jesus Christ.

I’m not going to compare myself to him, other than to say, “Hey, brother, I’m with you.”  He liked the term brother.  So do I, and I am grateful to be able to use it concerning him.

The thing that’ll take you the farthest

Is a mindset known as attitude.

How do you feel about your fellow beings?

Do they rate a “how will they feel?”

Building from there –

Do you value what they stand for?

Can you excuse them if it’s wrong?

Would you give them points for something right?

Next, what do you think of their parents,

Or what do you think of their heritage?

If you respect all that God created,

And stick with the good,

You’re a human of the highest degree.

One who’ll make the wagons roll,

The airplanes fly, the people rejoice in accomplishing

Something good and praiseworthy.

Don’t say, “I believe in God.”  Say instead, “I believe in…Wow!”  You believe in Him who can turn you into a sobbing pathetic or a jabbering idiot in minutes!  (The mind is a fragile thing.)  It’s happened to me.

You feel religion is boring, right?  If God impressed only a fourth of his reality on you, you’d be speechless.  We can only take so much; fortunately our circumstances limit us to what we can take.  If life is boring, you can easily change that.  Only don’t let God change it; He may show you what it can be.

At this particular moment I am happy to lead an uneventful life, to go about my prayers and duties, and to wake up every morning to a day of potentiality.  May I be able to help those less fortunate, and may I stay in God’s graces.  That’s not always easy.