Consider making a word cloud. There are several sites on the internet that let you plug in words and create a word cloud that you can print an carry around with you.

Below is a generalized prayer list I made on wordle.net, but I have another that has the names of people who need healing and another one for people who are going through big transitions in their lives.

For the more visually oriented, a word cloud is better than a list.

Consider starting your day with a word cloud prayer. Print it out and put in in your front pocket or in your pen-and-paper organizer or even tape it to your dashboard.

There are several sites to choose from. Just google “word cloud” and check out the first three or four options that come up.

I stumbled on this idea recently on a day when the number of people and things I felt I needed to remember in prayer seemed overwhelming. My “prayer wordle” was exactly what I needed to stay focused and connected throughout the day. Hope this is a tool that others find useful as well.

Peace,

Anne

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;  Forgive them anyway

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be hones and frank anyway

When you spend years building something, someone could destroy it overnight; Build it anyway

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you have anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway.

–Mother Teresa

Can we all just stop being angry for a moment? Not that there isn’t a place for anger.  We should never be indifferent to injustice or blow off oppression. But can we all just take a moment and focus on the good?

Whatever your stance on abortion, it cannot be denied that Planned Parenthood has saved many lives by providing affordable (often free) screenings and treatment to low-income women.

Whatever your stance on their funding choices, it cannot be denied that the Komen Foundation has saved many lives due to the ground-breaking research they help to fund.

We do not have to give our time, money or energy to people or organizations that do not share our values, but we don’t have to vilify them either.  We can vehemently disagree with some person or organization and still not negate the good they do in the world.

It is quite possible that those churches that refuse to ordain women still share the Good News of the Jesus Christ in ways that people can hear and respond to. Often, they do it quite well.  And while I’m not going to send my child to a school supported by an organization that believes such things, I don’t have to see them as the enemy.    I am a huge proponent of gun control and very anti-gun in general, but I know quite a few gun owners who make the world at large, and my world in particular, a better place to be.

We should never let the bad cause us to lose sight of all that is good.

As  you are taking a moment to focus on the good that other people do, take a moment to own all the good that you, yourself do. Perhaps you are in a place where you don’t feel like you are making that much a difference. You should know that the good you do matters. Whether it is checking on your elderly neighbor, telling the girl behind the counter she is doing a good job, making sure your kids know they are loved or rebuilding the economy of a third-world nation.  Good is good. We don’t have to vie for the highest score.

So keep your righteous indignation and hold on to your anger over injustice, but don’t let it overshadow that good that is being done, nor all of the good that you do.

–Rev. Anne Russ

Over the next 39 days, I’ll be tweeting a catchphrase or slogan for each book of the Old Testament that attempts to capture the “essence” of the book.  You can follow me on Twitter at rightrevruss or just check back here and see the scroll to the right of this post.

As we often study passages in isolation, it is my hope that these will help you put some stories and people in the right places. And, in keeping with our sermon series theme, some of them will make you laugh.

Check it out

In the weeks leading up to Lent, we’ll be looking at what some feel is an unlikely spiritual discipline–laughter. Laughter is one of God’s great gifts to us, and if we are not engaging in it on a regular basis, we may find it difficult (impossible?) to grow into the people God calls us to be.

In the midst of cold and flu season, an economic crisis, unrest in the Arab world and mind-numbing coverage of the Presidential race, come and laugh with us as we journey together as God’s people.