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Sunday, November 6, 2022

11/6/2022

First Congregational Church
November 6, 2022
All Saints Sunday & 22nd Sunday after Pentecost
2 Thessalonians 2:13-17
“Blessings Back and Forth
”Rev. Dinah Haag, preaching

I read that there is a special hospital in London for those whom other hospitals consider a lost cause. It is a hospital for those who are diagnosed as “terminal.” Most people would consider such a hospital to be a very sad place, but it is not.

Actually, it is a hospital filled with hope and a lot of life. The emphasis in this London hospital is on life and not on death. The truth is that several of the patients have seen remissions in the disease process instead of death. A great deal of credit is given to the way the facility is run.

The basic philosophy is different from most other hospitals. In this program, the patients are expected to give themselves away in service to the other patients. Each patient is given another patient for whom to care. So, for example, a person who is unable to walk might be given the task of reading to another who is blind. The blind person would then push the wheelchair of the one who could not walk but who gives directions on where to push the chair.

This example of Jesus’ new commandment shows us the call to be disciples who love one another. We are the ones who are healed and strengthened when we learn how to give and how to love.

This morning’s scripture passage and the theme for this day are a bit of that new commandment, and how it’s lived out. Coming from the book of 2 Thessalonians naturally implies that there is a 1st Thessalonians, and that is true. Both letters were written by the great Paul, to address misconceptions about the Day of the Lord, or Christ’s Second Coming.

All these centuries later, those two intricately developed items are hardly even on the back burner anymore. That being said, this morning’s particular passage, in the middle of the second letter, is still highly relevant, even on this day of celebrating those who have come and those who have gone.

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17
13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. 16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Thank you, Larry Kneisel. There is a story on the internets from the hand of Robert A. Jensen, who tells the story of Pastor Mike when he was asked about his spiritual journey as they celebrated his ordination anniversary.

"My grandmother," said Pastor Mike without hesitation. "I believe that my grandmother had a tremendous shaping power over my life of faith even though I never knew her. She died eight years before I was born. But I heard the stories. I heard stories of how she headed up the Sunday school until she died. I heard stories of how she was the pioneer in seeing to it that the English language was introduced to her congregation of immigrants. I heard many stories of her faith.”

"I can't explain it but I have always felt that my call to the ministry was a call to fulfill my grandmother's legacy. In some mysterious way, I feel that her vision of Christian service has been passed along to me. She is, in a very special way, my 'gospel grandmother.' I thank God, we should all thank God, for our grandmothers in the faith!"

With that illustration, our scripture passage and this morning’s focus, we have the opportunity to think about our Gospel Grandparents - or parents - or aunts or uncles, or whomever. And with the story about Pastor Mike, we have the relevance of our present actions on future actions, many of whom we won’t meet in our lifetimes, maybe even to some of those with a name on today’s cradle roll.

As we allow our hearts and minds to appreciate all those influences, we need to also be realistic, acknowledging our human tendencies, not only to do well and good but not so well and good. Although it probably doesn’t seem like such a good example at first, those with larger-than-life examples can fall, with really big thuds.

Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart got terribly caught up in his dark side until he was caught. He not only preached and preached that with the Holy Spirit, we can overcome all sin, but Swaggart sat in judgment of those individuals who couldn’t overcome their sin. At some point after his exposure of disgrace, Mr. Swaggart was reported to have said, “I have seen that the gospel is perfect but its messengers are not.” So we are reminded to check the humility and honesty lights on the dashboard, that they are congruent our hearts and minds, and souls.

Into our saint and spirituality legacies, we also need to add a dash of sensibility. In the same vein as the practice of cutting off the end of a roast, in a Danish village there was a Lutheran Church where each Sunday the people would walk into the church by way of the center aisle. At the front of the church, there was a break between the pews and a blank white wall. Every Sunday, the people of that church would walk down the center aisle to the front of the church and genuflect at the blank wall.

A man visiting the church didn’t understand the customs, so he asked about it and they said that they had always done this. Upon further investigation, he learned that hundreds of years before there had been a painting of the Virgin Mary on that wall. At the time of the Protestant Reformation when the church became Lutheran - it being Catholic, they had painted over the display of the Virgin Mary. Since the people had always bowed before the Virgin Mary, they just kept on bowing even though there was nothing there. While they were still probably quite sainted individuals, their lights of faith weren’t quite as bright as they might have been.

While all this most stunning verbiage that has so far has been largely about us, as I thought about this passage and those we celebrate this day, it occurred to me that those mentioned in the very front end of the passage, “our good friends - so loved by God - is not just about those of us living. It’s actually just as true for those who have passed on, as well as a prayer for those newly born - thanking God, that God chose them, from before time began.

If God created the idea of us before time began, making us spiritual beings having a human experience, then it makes sense to pray for and bless those on this side of eternity - as well as for those on the other side. As we stand firm and hold on to the teachings that have been passed on to us by those who have gone home before us, so God gifts us to be able to stand firm in passing them along to those new to earth. We can continue our thanks for Gospel Grandmothers, Grandfathers, spiritual sisters and brothers, saints and even sinners throughout the course of time who bless, with or without their cognition of so doing.

Many of you are familiar with Eugene Peterson’s version of the Bible, The Message. As we begin to shift our attention to the coming Fellowship downstairs - or wherever you are - let us use Mr. Peterson’s version of this morning’s passage - as a prayer for all of us - on earth or in eternity.

The Message
13-14 Meanwhile, we’ve got our hands full continually thanking God for you, our good friends—so loved by God! God picked you out as God’s from the very start. Think of it: included in God’s original plan of salvation by the bond of faith in the living truth. This is the life of the Spirit God invited you to through the Message we delivered, in which you get in on the glory of our Master, Jesus Christ.

15-17 So, friends, take a firm stand, feet on the ground, and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, and enliven your speech. And all God’s people say, Amen.

Sunday, October 30, 2022

11/6/2022

First Congregational Church
October 30, 2022
21st Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 35:29-35 & Colossians 3:16
“Richer Than We Know"
Rev. Dinah Haag, preaching

16 There are many others more qualified to undertake the idea of art and worship, but just as each of you has traveled your path to this point, so has it been for yours truly.

So today’s message has been made possible because of observations from a bronze statue of Peter, a South Carolina Baptismal Font, a church in Denmark, a statue in Italy, and oodles and oodles of pew time.

17 Bronze Peter is my name for this statue in the Vatican. It’s a nice statue that sits on a high base, as the Prince of the Apostles gives a blessing with his right hand and holds the keys of heaven in his left hand. Even though the artistry is heavenly, it’s his foot that grabs the attention. Over the last 800 years or so, it has been a custom to touch or kiss the statue's feet, especially the right one, and ask for a blessing.

The pictures give an idea of what it once may have looked like and the way the current one slopes. It is fascinatingly smooth and the metal is much thinner than when it was created. But for a piece of bronze, to be so worn, imagine the number of people that had a physical interaction with it. Yes, there’s a bit of a yuck factor post-covid, but still

18 In the book Visual Faith by William Dyrness, he wrote “Like the biblical notion of Sabbath (which means at its root to “stop”), art stops us in our tracks and forces us to pay attention to life in a way that we have not previously done. The painting that arrests, our gaze in the gallery, insists that we ignore all the needs and duties of everyday life and look at life, as it were, from a distance. Unlike music, which plunges us into time and holds us there until it brings its harmonic world to resolution, visual art stops time. In such experiences, art provides an important image of transcendence with which” so many have wrestled.

19 The oldest surviving church building in South Carolina is St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Charleston. It isn’t a super spectacular church, but it survived the Civil War, as it was built 155 years before the war began.

20 But it has its quirks, and besides having a wrought iron staircase into the pulpit that twists like a lemon rind, is less than 2 feet wide, (truth!), it has a baptismal font with a wrought iron base of three pelicans. It turns out that while pelicans represent piety, humility, devotion, and unconditional love, sharing so many similarities to doves, their real connection to spirituality is based on a myth about mother pelicans’ selfless sacrifice and martyrdom for the life of their chicks. Whomever the ironworker was, regardless of representational accuracy, he - or she - was really good at their craft.

21 Nørholm Kirke i Aalborg, is one of the oldest churches in Denmark, going back to somewhere around 1200 A.D. It’s like a lot of Danish Churches - with an elevated and elaborate pulpit, a red roof, and painted white, outside and inside.

22 The pews aren’t as wide as ours, it has a mismatched chandelier, and a rather cool balcony front - with all the disciples painted across it. But if you don’t know to look, a lot of Danish churches have a ship hanging from the ceiling. Fishing is - has been - a mainstay of the economy for centuries, and asking God to keep the ships and crews safe was literally at the forefront of most congregations.

23 There are probably more churches in New England with ships in them, but whether they have them or not, it is no coincidence that the part of every church where the people sit is called a nave. It’s a Latin word, navis, that means ship, portraying the church as an upside down ship, protecting those inside it from the waves and buffets of the world. Ships pass through seas and rivers, and carry useful things for life, quite like we do, too.

In early Christian art, the subject of Noah’s ark is typically used to represent the Church, and Christ’s mother, Mary is sometimes referred to as the “Star of the Sea.”

The last point before getting to this morning’s scripture is not related so much to any text but that this particular day is the fifth Sunday, and for those who haven’t picked up on it, we often do things a little differently on those special Sundays.

24 As Tuesday is November 1st, it is the anniversary of the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling reveal in 1512 AD. For four years, Michelangelo worked with his helpers to adorn the 134 ft. by 44-foot summary of Biblical history 68 feet in the air.

25 Interesting side note, while the most focus is on the panel of The Creation of Adam, it is the Creation of Eve that is actually at the very center of the whole thing. I know it’s hard to see, but the top photo is the actual painting and the bottom one is like a blueprint of the design. And by the way, I’ll try to get the entire powerpoint on the church website - fccfrankfort.org - as soon as I can.

26 Sometime between the Creation and now, there was Moses, trying his best to lead the Jewish people out of their bondage, from the Pharaoh to the Promised Land. But the people became bored and needed some reigning in, so there were commandments - 10 of them. While Moses was busy taking notes on these commandments, the people decided a Golden Calf would at least provide some entertainment, which didn’t go well, either. So Moses lost his self-control, and well, there was a second set of commandments.

Exodus 35:29-35
29 All the Israelite men and women who were willing brought to the Lord freewill offerings for all the work the Lord through Moses had commanded them to do. 30 Then Moses said to the Israelites, "See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of crafts - 32 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver, and bronze, 33 to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic craftsmanship. 34 And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. 35 He has filled them with the skill to do all kinds of work as craftsmen, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers - all of them master craftsmen and designers.

Colossians 3:16
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

An argument could be made that we should have art in our churches and worship because God said so - right there in the directions to construct a tabernacle. Interestingly enough, there are churches that don’t buy into that thought, even hard-core Congregational Christian Churches.

Any art - including music - was thought to distract the mind and heart from one’s main task of prayer and study. If we followed that line of thought, there would be no altar, no cross, no stained glass windows, no beautiful lights, organ, piano, or choir - even should there are enough sopranos to carry it off. (No blame, just fact.)

The thing is, the education of the whole person became an important part of life and accomplishing that education took a lot of different directions. It was discovered that different colors of light have different healing properties, so churches were built to act as early hospitals to allow people to come into the church building, taking advantage of the healing of colored light.

27 Those who know Sandy Campbell may remember that she’s done some work with color in churches. It would have been amazing to have her as a part of this time, but the envelope was pushed pretty hard. But perhaps some time.

So stained glass windows not only keep us from following the neighborhood mowing and traffic patterns, but they can impact our sense of well-being or un-easiness. The field of chromotherapy, started in churches long before science got really serious about it.

28 If the poor couldn’t read, it didn’t mean that they couldn’t learn about the Gospel message, either. Going back to William Dyrness, apparently, early on, Christian symbols such as the cross seem to have been intentionally avoided by the early Christians, even hidden from outsiders because such symbols could get them killed.

Instead, they borrowed generously from Greek imagery. Christians from the beginning used pagan vocabulary to express Christian sentiments while carefully avoiding humanistic connotations. For those wondering, the graphic on the far top left is a Chi Rho, the first two letters of Christ’s name in Greek. It looks like an X on top of a P. On the right, it, too is another name for Christ, even though it looks like ihc. The symbol for a fish is still another expression for Jesus. If you are confused about these names for Jesus and their spellings, think about the name Robert, Bob, Rob, Bobby, and you get the idea.

29 Architecture became part of the plan to spread the Gospel. As more people learned to read, more people were able to add to the creative ways of reaching out, and some churches chose to tell stories in their artwork. The Chapel of Souls in Porto, Portugal is covered in tiles representing moments in the life of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Catherine. On top of that, the Chapel is located near a metro station and one of the best-known shopping streets in the city. Who needs billboards when you have talented artists?

30 Vinje Evangelical Lutheran Church is in Willmar, MN about 30 miles from where I grew up. The 150-year-old congregation, on their fourth building, wove theology, telling stories and their faith heritage together in the design of their church home. The downside of that design is the difficulty in capturing it on camera.

It’s a church in the round, so you can’t corner anyone into any arguments, which is of course, not true. But the design allows for two distinct works of art to work together. The first is the contemporary stained glass that flows with the story of creation and the water of life.

31 The second work of art rides right above the stained glass windows and is a list of patriarchs, prophets, disciples, theologians, and fathers and mothers of the faith. But it’s an interesting mix of moving forward while cherishing the heritage as they work for God, even if they still hold lutefisk dinners.

32 The part that caught my ear when reading the Exodus passage today was how Bezalel was not only filled with the Spirit of God, skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of crafts, working in wood and engaging in all kinds of artistic craftsmanship, but he taught others how to utilize their gifts in works of art to inspire and use their own creative gifts. So if you’re going to have an organ, then part of the challenge and joy is figuring out how to make it as visually appealing as it would be musically appealing.

33 Art in Worship allows the creativity of accommodation - for labyrinths to become part of a sanctuary and chairs to replace pews that allow for the inclusion of people with all sorts of abilities.

Now before anyone gets all excited thinking that we’re going to get video screens and clear out the pews, just hold on. That is not what this message is about at all. Because it’s about realizing the wealth of that which surrounds us. Even that which we don’t know.

34 One of those little-known riches is in the last roofing job that we had however many years ago. It’s pretty awesome knowing that we are literally covered with Grace in our ice and water shield.

35 One of those other mysterious riches is under the paint above the chimes on the wall. When the painters were repairing cracks, they discovered remnants of some sort of design that included red and dark blue and even a brownish-yellow floral pattern. Those people who came before, I can’t be the only one eager to ask them about art and design and so many other gifts on this side of eternity.

So let us pray. Great God of Grace and Beauty, thank you for gifting us in so many more ways than we realize. Thank you for curiosity and creativity and talents that not only provide our food and shelter, but allow us to worship you in so many richer ways. May we be the artful houses of rest and inspiration to those around us, as all your people say, Amen.

Sunday, October 23

11/6/2022

First Congregational Church
October 23, 2022
20th Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 18:9-14
“Righteous and/or/vs. Justified: Does It Matter?”
Rev. Dinah Haag, preaching

I heard about a fifth grader who came home from school so excited. She had been voted "prettiest girl in the class." The next day she was even more excited when she came home because the class had voted her "the most likely to succeed." The next day she came home and told her mother she had won a third contest, being voted "the most popular.” But the next day she came home extremely upset. The mother said, "What happened, did you lose this time?" She said, "Oh no, I won the vote again." The mother said, "What were you voted this time?" She said, "most stuck up.”

It’s interesting how we know - or don’t know - how we should - or shouldn’t feel about certain things in life. I can’t imagine the pressure parents feel to do their best to raise good human beings and balance the rest of life at the same time. And any teacher worth their salt knows that their subject matter is at least as important as the life skills they pass on. Then there is the pressure - not only for parents, but all of us - to blend in with our cultures and peers. Being good human beings is not easy.

It was late New Year's Day when the showdown finally came. The number one and two college bowl teams in the nation were set to fight it out in the Fiesta Bowl at Tempe, Arizona, deciding who would lay claim to being the "Beast of the East" and the best in the nation.

Among those who predict such things, there was agreement that the nation's number one team would remain number one that night. Their passing attack had been unstoppable all season long, and it would remain so. A high-scoring game was predicted. Both predictions were wrong.

A defensive struggle prevailed, and the number one team was upset and beaten. Interviews and national news stories alike toyed with the obvious question: "How did you stop their passing attack?" Several strategies had been employed, such as mixing up defensive formations, intimidating receivers by hard tackling, and of special significance, watching the mannerisms of the quarterback. Careful study of earlier films had discovered that he "telegraphed" the direction of a pass. "How did you stop him?" "We watched his eyes!” As we hear this morning’s scripture passage, pay attention to the eyes.

Luke 18:9-14 The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector 9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' 13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' 14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Thank you, Liz. When I first read this passage, it felt “off,” and I didn’t really get why until five or six readings later, I finally read the passage aloud. The words, especially those from the tax collector, could be woven into an anthem that might be called, “Minnesota Nice.” Minnesota Nice is not just being polite, but in its true sense, it can be self-denigrating even to the point of causing mental health issues, if one is not careful. And yes, it’s a real thing, because it took a long time to realize that I was not - literally - lower than worm slime.

I doubt there are many of us who would argue with the idea that impressions can be deceiving - especially first impressions. In the 15th century, in the great cathedral of Florence Italy, Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola began his preaching career. One day he noticed a particular elderly woman who had gone every day to the cathedral to pray before a statue of Mary.

Savonarola remarked one day to another priest who had been serving in the cathedral for many years, "Look how devoted and earnest this woman is. Every day she comes and offers prayers to the statue of Mary. What a marvelous act of faith." But the other priest replied, "Do not be deceived by what you see. Many years ago when the sculptor needed a model to pose for this statue of the blessed Mother, he hired a beautiful young woman to sit for him. This devout worshiper you see here every day is that young woman. She is worshiping whom she used to be.”

Whether it’s good writing or translation or our own cognitive abilities, we know both immediately and intuitively that the Pharisee’s prayer should not be our prayer: “Dear God, I thank you that I am not like other people.” Even so, it’s an interesting irony that the Pharisee in the parable is made to be the bad guy, while everything he has attested to is true. It was true that he wasn’t like other men because his standard of morality was higher than the other standards of the day.

Pharisees fasted on Mondays and Thursdays and gave a tenth of all they possessed - on the gross and not the net - which was above the requirements of regular people under the Law of Moses. And if he were a real person, he no doubt would have/could have been faithful to his wife, dealt fairly with those with whom he came in contact, and not throw others under the bus, as we say these days. But all the Pharisees did that, so it wasn’t really that big of a deal. The subtle innuendo of his prayer was his comparison to the tax collector.

Even though it’s a parable, everything the tax collector said was also true. He worked for the Roman government, collecting taxes from his fellow Jews, the funds that would pay for the occupation of the tax collector and his people by the Romans. Tax collectors weren’t paid by the Romans, but added their own “compensation” to the amounts they collected, so they didn’t really take advantage of their situations, as much as they often gouged their own people into being held hostage by the Romans. The irony is that while the tax collector is made out to be the bad guy, he’s actually more forthright than his counterpart.

In our modern day, we don’t use the word righteous so much anymore, probably because it sounds a little too self-righteous. We probably use the word “successful” more often. Senior pastor at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Rev. Dr. David J. Lose put a the point perfectly.

“If you are good at investment banking, you are righteous according to the standards of Wall Street. If you’re popular at school, we might say you are socially righteous. And if you love college basketball, then each March you get to delight in watching a number of teams that are righteous on the court. In the Pharisee’s case, he is successful at keeping the law of Israel.”

Louisiana Episcopalian Bishop and author, James Owensby said that “Strictly speaking, he’s bragging to God about his religious accomplishments and expecting divine applause. Then again, maybe he’s just talking to himself, singing “How Great I Art.”

Remember when I mentioned paying attention to the eyes in our scripture passage? As the Pharisee looked out or up, he was actually looking inwardly. The tax collector, while his eyes looked down, his soul faced God.

The tax collector didn’t really have anything to boast about and no one looked at him as a success or called him righteous. He was a failure at keeping the law, and in fact, his very neighbors – off of whom he makes his living – probably despised him. And because he knew all that, he stood at the edge of the Temple.

And that’s the one Jesus said is justified, the one who looked for mercy. Righteousness is about what we accomplish and our successes, being justified is being called righteous - no matter what we have done - but simply because God says so.

And because I can’t be the only one thinking it, we need to be careful in sorting out this “righteous and/or/vs. justification” thing, because we may be tempted to pray the insidious prayer, “Thank you, God, that we are not like other people: hypocrites, overly pious, self-righteous, or even like that Pharisee.”

We can go to church each week, listen attentively to the sermon, give our offering, and learn that we should always be humble.” We may be righteous in our own right, but we are not justified in our own right, because righteousness, success and accomplishments are never enough. We will always fall short because they are about comparisons, measured relative to how the people around us are doing.

Putting aside all politics and devotions, apparently, after winning Super Bowl 45, which was the fulfillment of a childhood dream, being named Most Valuable Player of that same game, putting up hundreds of points on scoreboards over the years, just a couple of hours after the game, apparently all Green Bay quarterback, Aaron Roger thought was “Is this all there is to life?”

Bishop James Owensby pointed out a subtle point with the response of the tax collector. He said, “Some readers assume (the tax collector) means “I’ve done wrong. Please don’t punish me like I deserve.” Owensby goes on, “I think we get to Jesus’ point more clearly if we hear him saying, “Have compassion on me, God. My life is killing me!” Or, to use one of Anne Lamott’s favorite prayers, “Help! Help! Help!”

God’s compassion saves us. Heals us. Sustains us. Liberates us. God is always pouring out that compassion because that is just who God is. God’s compassion is not a reward for or a reaction to something we do or say. Compassion is God’s unchanging way of being.

Divine compassion comes in many forms: a phone call when we’re lonely, a hike in the woods, a casserole when we’re grieving, or a dog’s relentless love. That compassion begins making us whole once we admit that we need it.
Author, Bill Bouknight, in his book “How Do You Measure Greatness” put it into comic strip understanding. When Bart Simpson does something wrong, he feels entitled. When Charlie Brown does something wrong, he feels humility. That spectacular preacher, Rev. Dinah Haag said, “Entitlement makes us hard and prone to breakage. Humility makes us pliable and able to withstand whatever comes our way.” I suggest we pray.

Compassionate and Loving God, thank you for seeing us for who we really are, even when such vision can make us feel naked or vulnerable or intimidated. Thank you for the healing of your compassion, which seeks to not only make us whole, but more balanced and more able to withstand the rigors of life. Sometimes our passions and energies get us into trouble, and we look in all the wrong places but at you. Give us the inspiration to get ourselves back on track, which is laid with your desire of a parent for their child to do well, certainly, but more importantly, to be well - in you. Inspire those around us, who may be struggling with entitlements and humility, to want to find out more about our reasons for following you, as all your people say, Amen.