This cartoon came to me via Barb Maki as we sat bedside to Chuck Maki at the hospital – loving him and praying for God to work in a loving way in his body as he and Barb deal with his advanced Parkinson’s. The message from the swine with one ear always up for listening is that we all want to be loved and it shouldn’t be a secret! How silly to keep love a secret or even more, to withhold it from our fellow humans. Those of us who follow God and Jesus Christ our Savior should know that we are constant recipients of the greatest LOVE without merit. Is that just a gift to us? Yes it is. But the message that comes along with it and is shared by Jesus as the greatest commandment and the second greatest commandment  (See Matthew 22:36-40, hopping on to biblegateway.com is a really easy way to find this passage on your phone) is that we should also give that love freely to others no matter the situation or condition. 

If there are no conditions that wipe us away from God’s love then there are no conditions available for us to put upon all the rest of the world we are called to love. We are to love others as we love ourselves. If you don’t love yourself then you can certainly begin to seek out ways to do that. For guidance, check with Pastor Joel. 

A huge part of the goodness that is God is the love that he constantly showers upon us even when we aren’t particularly mindful of his presence. That is pretty great and wonderful. Ponder on that as we move ahead with our days pretty concentrated on ourselves and what is affecting us. If spending even a little time thinking about what might be affecting the lives of others and getting up the courage to step into that gap…..well, just think of the possibilities. 

Simplified: God is great, good and loving. Let’s spread it. 

Let me tell you, being a farmer’s wife for 39 years has taught me a lot about the richness that comes from spreading things and the bounty that is the result of that. As farmers, we call that being good stewards of the land. This has been a long lesson to me about being a good spiritual steward as well. Again I say, spread it!

~Shauna Weil

A devotion provided by the Devotion Ministry of Goodrich UMC 

Today I have two songs that really speak to me to share about the same topic – God’s goodness and love and loving, verb calling for action. The first is a light poppy and boppy piece called Love Is Everything We Need by Unspoken. Not very deep but a fun and groovin’ piece – nothing wrong with that. The second is by Cece Winans called Goodness of God. Man, the richness and deep nuance available in her voice is precious. This is a longer song and a good one to just let surround you as her gorgeous voice and song arrangement envelops you. Find a comfortable spot to rest after dancin’ a bit with the first tune and let this one wash over you. So, we started with pearls of wisdom from swine today and finish with a soak for your soul. A quirky but common occurrence in my world….simply another reason to always stay close.