USE IT OR LOSE IT

READ ARTICLE



USE IT OR LOSE IT, My Faith Zone, affirmation, confirmation, inspiration, vicki hinze, faith, spirituality, religion

A NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

READ ARTICLE

The Purpose of Life Is . . .

At some time or another, often many times over the course of a life, we all ask or wonder about the purpose of life. And at different stages of our own lives, we’ll answer that question in different ways.

Whether the reason for that is seasonal (we see the world and ourselves much differently at 20 than at 30 or 40 or 50) or predicated on experiences and exposure to different thoughts and philosophies and beliefs probably all has a lot to do with those changes. But there are other things that factor in, too.

in 1997, my mother died. She’d lived me with and my family for nine years--since my dad’s death. To say my mom and I were close is such a gross understatement of the way things were between us. Little between us ever actually had to be said. We just knew.

When she died, I wasn’t unfamiliar with death. I’d already lost my grandparents, my father, my brothers, far too many other relatives and a number of friends. Death and grief were not strangers to me. And yet her death impacted me in countless and profound ways I couldn’t have expected.

About eight months after she died, I was standing at the door to my then office, looking out over the deck at the trees and everything seemed so futile. I well remember thinking that if this is all there is to life, then why bother? You’re born, you grow and laugh a little, cry a little and then you die. Surely, I’m missing something. Surely there’s more to life than this cycle.

So more than quizzing myself on my life’s purpose, I was quizzing myself on the purpose of life as I see it. At that moment, I truly couldn’t see the merit in it.

Now some would say that was depression. It wasn’t. This was an opportunity. A launching pad for delving, seeking, looking for meaning on a grand scale. Something, anything, that would make the process of life make sense--and seem worthy. MORE...

MOCKING GOD

WARNING: This is a no-edit zone...

In the last years, we’ve seen God under attack in the U.S. and we’ve seen the decline that has come with it in ethical standards, morals, and social mores. We have grown so accustomed to it that we too often expect corruption and greed and rudeness and a pervasive sense of entitlement where we once expected respect, honor, dignity and grace.

Some blame an inflated sense of, well, sensibilities that’s often couched in terms like “politically correct.” Some blame apathy. Some blame a decline in the family unit. For the first time, we are a nation of more single parent families than married couple families.

There’s probably truth in all of it. But there’s more. The few mockers have grown to many because mocking God has become a fevered ambition pursued with passion. Doubt it? When a political candidate can make a negative remark about God and be ignored, it’s proof. Remember that this is happening here, in a country where a short time ago a candidate not believing in God was unthinkable and one being Catholic (Kennedy) created serious flack. That says a lot about where we’ve gone on this.

Attacks have come from many sides. And a very recent one uses the guise of humor. Make a movie, make it “funny,” and as its central point, mock God.

That’s part and parcel of freedom of choice and freedom of religion.

Believers find it offensive but feel helpless to do anything about it. And yet there is something that can be done and it is effective. . .
READ MORE

Full Articles on Vicki Hinze's Faith Zone Blog

The complete articles in this blog have been moved to Vicki's www.vickihinze.com. The specific blog URL is located HERE

For your convenience, future posts will all contain a direct link to the entire article.

Blessings,

Vicki

ARE YOU RESPECTING YOURSELF?

A few days ago, I had the privilege of going to a water-park with my Angels and another mom and her two sons. All of the children were young--the oldest was a boy about eight.

You know how hungry swimming makes you. Well, we were starved, and so after we left the park we went for lunch. While sitting at the table--three adults, four children--the eldest boy said something I didn’t catch. His mother said, “That wasn’t my son talking.”

The boy paused, clearly thinking about that, then looked at his mother and said, “I wasn’t respecting myself.”

READ MORE