02.15.2023 | Ordinary Humpday

The sun is casting deep shadows on the ground this Ordinary Wednesday.  The shadows reach out deep and far. A reminder that we, too, cast a large shadow. We touch more lives than we think by how we live and what we say.  A reminder that we need to be careful with our words and actions.  They are a reflection of us and cast a long shadow.  Our shadows reach out and touch things we may not see.

There was an old Sunday School song that said, "O, be careful little ears what you hear. O, be careful little eyes what you see.  O, be careful little mouth what you say." We forget about that sometimes.  I know I do.  I prattle on, as old men do, in my pompous pronouncements.  I can go on and on with my beliefs and my ideals. O, be careful old man's mouth what you say.  I pray for the ability to keep my big mouth shut and listen.  Truly utilize that old saw, "Listen twice as much as you speak.  That's why God gave you two ears and one mouth." 

Today I pray that I may hear that wee, small voice who can provide the wisdom I need to hear on this Ordinary Wednesday.  I need to listen for the wisdom. My wife's late uncle used to take the cousins out onto a lake in the early evening.  Away from everyone and everything and he would quietly say, "Shhhh... just listen to the pretty."  I pray that I may hear the pretty.  I pray that I may hear the wisdom.  Listen. Quiet my mind and the soul will speak.  Shhhh... listen.  Amen.