He played the role on TV with such humanity.  The show ran nine years.  By the third he had become a regular.  His stance toward death was biblical but his touch was not heavy handed.

He left so many memories in that role.  Even in death he will continue to impact others who discover or view again the episodes of “Touched By An Angel”.  I am sure he is on the other side.

He did not bludgeon you with hell.  Sure it was a possibilty.  He did not use that word.  He emphasized the positive–how much God wanted a relationship with you.  He was totally believable and he will be missed.

There is no way to get around that.  I have to admit I balked at the statement I read in a book where it says it does no good to criticize anyone:  it just lessens our ability to love that person.

I know I often criticize my partner even if it is only self talk.  Somehow I need to forgive her for not matching up every day.  I certainly don’t.  So why should I expect her to not make any mistakes?  I err every day.

Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath is good advice from the Bible.  Give each other a clean slate and forgive each other at the end of each day.

Bitterness can form an almost impenetrable wedge between you and your mate.  So recognize that both of you are flawed and forgive each other at the end of the day.  Every marriage is flawed.

There really is no answer to that question and if you ask yourself that question all that will happens is all kinds of reasons will cycle endlessly in your mind.  And it is non productive.

I like the much quoted lines from Dwight D. Eisenhower’s mom.  I don’t remember the quote exactly but she said,  “Every one gets dealt a certain hand (in cards); what matters is what you do with that hand.”

That is what she taught her son who later became a four star general and our President.  The only important thing is what are you going to do with your particular set of circumstances.  That is it.

No mulling endlessly, Why or Why me?  What are you going to do now?  That is the only thing that matters.

I have to slow down, listen more closely.  ‘Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.’  Those words from Proverbs suggest a formula to avoid anger.

The first part of it forces you to slow down.  That is the only way you can be quick to listen.  You first have to refrain from talking, focus on the words of the person talking.

At the same time you may be able to digest the words spoken to you better.  The last part of the equation ‘be slow to anger’ suggests that if you listen better and also do not talk it may become a little easier not to react in anger.

These scriptures from Proverbs give me hope.  My wife has told me I repeatedly interrupt her.  I have to work on this.

Presently there is not one bird out there.  The dogs were out and just charged in.  Now I am waiting for my visitors.  I do not remember exactly where I read it in the bible but it says if God can feed the sparrow how can we possibly doubt God won’t take care of us.

I think it uses the word lowly to describe the sparrow.  I put out birdseed on the ground and keep three feeders full.  The birds do not, I am sure, spend one second worrying where their next meal comes from.  Even in winter.

If God takes can take care of the lowly sparrow how can we possibly doubt He will not take care of us?  Of ye humans of bad faith!

It is all too easy to go faster and faster nowhere.  It is essential to slow down, even stop even if that is briefly.  ‘Be still and know I am God’, the words from Proverbs in the bible.

How can you possibly hear that tiny voice inside you if you are always rushing from one thing to another?  It is so essential to stop periodically and examine your life, figure out where are you heading.

That tiny voice inside you is too often passed by you in busyness and turmoil.  ‘Observe the Sabbath’, one of the ten commandments, is there to encourage you to get off your treadmill and look at your life.

How can your life have balance if you do not give your self time to examine it?  How you use your time is always a question of balance.  That is the only way to hear your tiny voice so easily covered up by other things.

The devil uses forgiveness to pit one mate against the other.  And we are all imperfect.  And each day each person make mistakes so it is important to let them go and start the day afresh.

There is wisdom in those lines from the bible.  If you do not forgive the other for their failures, resentment builds and drives a wedge between you.

Forgiveness allows you to love your partner fully and with humility.  Each person knows in their heart that they are not perfect so why should you expect your partner to be otherwise?

I waste (our) days sometimes.  I act as if my time on this earth is infinite.  I know.  I have been there repeatedly.  I have to remind myself each day is a gift.  I know I am a master of rationalization.  I act as if I will be forever here.

It is marvelous what a shower and putting on clean clothes (and dressing nicely) does to your attitude.  I am saying today matters.  I will respect my time here.  It is truly a gift.

It is so easy for me to fall down in the dumps to use a cliche.  I really have to work at it and sometimes from the outside first and my attitude towards the day will change.

Every day I am on this earth is a privilege and I have to treat it as such.  I really matter to the one above so I have to give him the respect due and treat each day that the Lord brings me as a gift.  It really is.

I do not know what my fascination with San Francisco is but I have wanted to go there for forty years.  I want to go in style:  I will take a “sleeper” on Amtrak with my wife from Chicago to San Francisco next spring.

“The California Zephyr” goes across the United States:  I have always loved trains and they are my favorite form of public transportation.  I have almost six months to plan out this trip in next April.

I do not want to put off this trip any longer.  Who knows what the time will bring?  ‘Time is indeed a vapor’ in the words of King Solomon fron the Old Testament.

I am imperfect and so is my partner.  If you don’t forgive your partner at the end of the day for being imperfect (for hurting you), the wounds just fester.

Everyone sins (or should I say is imperfect or human).  You know in your heart you sin everyday why should you expect your other to be otherwise.

Forgiveness at the end of the day wipes your slate clean.  That is why it is healthy not to nurse hurts in your marriage.

We are all imperfect and whether or not you think your partner deserves it you have to forgive your partner at the end of the day.  It is the right thing to do.

I really believe marriage was put on this earth only for two reasons–to teach us how to forgive and love others and these lessons start off with our primary relationships–our mates.

There is a reason for that.  There is no end to liking or should I say wanting or desiring something (or somebody).  There is no end to wanting more material things.

Observing this commandment puts a halt to desiring more things.  You make up your mind to be happy with what you got.

Money by itself is not an evil but avarice is.  Being aware coveting is a sin produces peace of mind.  You can be happy with what you have.

Less is more.  And there is no end to wanting more.  The commandment not to covet was designed not to deprive but acknowledge human nature and the danger of money and material wealth.

The more you have the more you want.  There can be an end to this by simply being satisfied with what you have.  Then you can rest.

He tempers those words in the Old Testament with the statement and I am paraphrasing:  It is a gift to enjoy our life.

The Greek has several words for the word “time” and right now they escape me.  Nevertheless, one is means the chronological passage of time and another means the significance of that point in time.

It is true, time seems, in retrospect, to flee you but not all points have similar value to you.  It is the points in time that have significance to us so don’t despair over the passing in time.

Cherish the moments you have been given for there is no more precious gift you can be given to you than today.  We all have so much and none of us knows exactly how much.  And that makes our time on earth here that much more valuable.  We never know when it is going to run out.

Sometimes the days seem endless and that is only an illusion.  Make the best of every dawn that you face.  And when the dusk appears, rest peacefully when you have made the most of the preceding day.

That is why there has to be empty spaces in every day.  Somehow you have to stop your frenetic activity and look at your past, examine the future and live fully in the present.

There is only one go of it.  Do not regret you have wasted, squandered the most valuable possession you have–your time.

So slow down periodically, welcome the empty spaces.  It is an opportunity to examine your life and truly do what matters the most.  It is too easy to imagine there will always be another day.  ‘Life is but a vapor’ in the words of King Solomon who had it all.  So think about it.

I am as guilty as anyone of this.  My music, my writings and journals and books are far too important to me.  Yet when my appointed hour comes, I can no longer hang on to any of these things.

Why do we act as if we can take our possessions with us when we die?  We try up till the last moment to retain some control of our most valuable possessions.  We make wills.

The fact still remains we can’t take them with us.  Wouldn’t it make more sense to invest in the things that really have more lasting effects?  Wouldn’t it make more sense to invest time while you are on earth in relationships–your immediate family, your friends, your kids?

Once you are gone all people have are their memories of you, the love and care you have demonstrated toward them.  You can have far reaching effects if you have invested time and love in others while you were on this earth.  People you have loved have memories of you long after you are gone.

Far too many people do not invest time in others.  They spend their whole life in accumulating things.  No one remembers how hard you worked in your lifetime.  They remember the love you have demonstrated toward them.  So before it is too late, do something about it.  Examine your priorities.  You have one life.

My aunt lived until the ripe old age of 92.  No one lives forever yet others act as though death is an abomination and something terrible.  It says clearly in the bible that from dust we come and to dust we shall return.

Funerals are really for the living.

It gives others, especially those people who were invested in that person’s life, a chance to process their grieving openly in a group setting.

Persons who died do not need the funeral except for the obvious reasons.  It is others–the living-who need the funeral.  So I will think about these things as I go to the funeral.

I grew up with my aunt and she was my favorite aunt.  Her death is still too fresh.  It is hard to fathom my loss.  That will take time.  Attending her funeral will start this process of grieving.

You have to return to it over and over.  It is so easy to become “lost”.  There are so many things that can distract you– divert your attention.

In order to return to your center one has to be quiet.  ‘Be still and know I am God’, Proverbs in the bible says.

The only way you can find your true center is to stop–be quiet long enough to prayerfully, thoughtfully determine what truly matters in your life.

In fact that is what the Sabbath was designed for–to stop your routine– to be quiet to get off your treadmill and reevaluate your life to make sure what you  do truly fulfills your mission.

This whole discussion, of course, assumes you have found your center–your driving force.  Finding your center is really another discussion.

The point is is you continually have to stop periodically to find your center again.  It is so easy to get off track.  Being still gives you the opportunity to get back on track again.  And it has to be done over and over.

As I watch my four dogs it is readily evident they know no other reality than now– the present.  If they are hungry or happy, you know it instantly.

The now is all that matters.  Yes, you can linger in the past or look into the future but if you stay in either realm you are not experiencing life to the fullest.

Being in the present is always being aware of your surroundings, your current feelings a constellation always fluid.  There are so many universes occurring simultaneously and to become aware of some of them is to be focused on the present.

There is beauty (and horror) everywhere.  In Ecclesiastes, a book in the Old Testament, it says in one passage that a gift given to us is to enjoy the daily pleasures of life –a paraphrase but nevertheless if you are not aware of life in the present you are missing out your enjoyment of life–the now.

Somehow you have to banish the past and do not linger in the moments to come and simply open up yourself to the present.  The world is yours to enjoy.

Depression can be very selfish (and my intent is certainly not to make people who are in the midst of depression to feel guilty).  Nevertheless depression can numb you, prevent you from seeing very clearly and all you can do is to look at your life and deal with the next thing that has priority.  Then when you do the next thing another next thing shows up in your life.

Sometimes you are depressed because you are doing so little and doing the next thing will help eventually lift your depression.  Forcing yourself to physically move is a good thing whether or not you feel like it.

In the beginning it takes extra energy to get going.  Continually doing the next thing may get you going.  In the beginning it will take a bit of faith for you will not feel like moving.  Depression can be a deceiver.

If everyday you keep doing the next thing, before you know you will be more in control of your life and there will be less “loose ends”.  The advice from the bible is very wise, ‘Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.’

That is how it always was:  You take on someone else’s mission and at some point someone, somewhere will continue your unfinished business.

All one is asked is to do His will.  It should not be your concern even if you think you have completed the job.  Someone may come along and take your life’s work in a different direction.

All you are asked is to fulfill your own mission.  In the Old Testament it says, “God has set eternity in our hearts.” (the words of the Preacher in Ecclesiastes).  We never can see the complete picture.

Each person only sees his/her part and sometimes all we can do is to take the next step.  And that is all we are asked to do:  to take your next step.  And that takes faith in the unknown.