Always thought that the violin is one of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard…..as close to a heavenly sound as a harp or even a piano. A violin played slowly and sensitively may make you weep….yet the same instrument played with zest and exuberance may make you want to dance. Forgetting about everything…your heart becomes filled with hope and promise. We, also are that way….some of us: instruments of cruelty….yet others may bring love, joy, happiness and completeness…to those around them. I hope that the song that your life plays is one of love, joy and completeness. There are so many around us who are not able to hear a beautiful sound…your life may be the only good sound they have ever heard. Bring love to those around you this Valentine’s Day!!!

This devotional was borrowed from the “Book Tea Time with God” ,by Honor Books, Tulsa, Oklahoma.1996.pp 94. I am not going to cite the whole passage, but reflect about it. “For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak….though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come. Hab 2:3 This is a quote: ” Many of the major symphonies we know and love have what has come to be called ‘the grand finale’. Beethoven’s symphonies, in particular, are noted for this. The final movement of the symphony may begin with a gentle and melodious theme, then suddenly there will be a flurry of sound and rhythm that builds, increasing to a climax that often includes a great deal of percussion and every section of the orchestra playing at full tilt. The listener is swept toward a glorious conclusion.” The writer then went into examples of how it is also this way in life-no matter what it is the closer we get to the end of a project , the more energy we pour into it. The theme was very important. We would all benefit from stopping every so often in the middle of our days, projects, etc. and sit down quietly and share a cup of tea with God-let Him usher in your final hour of the day. Matthew 6:34 “God will take care of your tomorrow, too. Live one day at a time.” I thought that this advise was so valuable. Tomorrow is another day…try not to fret over it! The article ended with how intense the last three days of Jesus’ ministry were…would He have had the strength to finish… had He not spent 25years in preparation for those last three days of His life- that served to be eternally meaningful for all? “Take time to rejuvenate yourself before your grand finale!!

Open wides you gates ….and let the King Of Glory come in….We had a guest visitor, Eric Butler. This man is a psalmist and prophet of God. His message for this region (CNY upstate NY and western NY) was a powerful one. I was especially touched by what he said about those who have waited on a promise for a very …long time. He used the story of the man who sat by the gate beautiful for 40 years. This man had become used to being there…leaning to the reward of a few fleshly coins. Most of those who passed him by had nothing more to give him-but those coins. Then one day the disciples of Jesus came by him and when the man begged them they simply said to him:”silver and gold have I none….but such that I have I give unto thee…rise up and walk.” Many of us sit by the gate beautiful…that door that is open to us…the door where lives will be changed forevermore… if we can be awakened to a new level of life that God has for each one…sometimes it takes someone who does not look at you like everyone else does…expecting the same old..familiar thing….someone who sees far beyond what can be seen with our eyes. It takes someone like this to awaken those who sleep by the gate beautiful….someone who encourages them to walk through the gate….where those promises have laid waiting…………for years.

Even from childhood I have been fascinated by trains…as so many other kids. I love the way they make a wailing lament as they enter into a city…almost to say “Oh how I would love to stop for awhile…to rest…. to settle down in your city….but my job is to just keep on going”….as if in a deep travail. Those that are in a city for a time sometimes get the wanderlust…”Oh if I could just go somewhere else and sense or feel something new…but my job is just to stay right here”.., again almost in deep travail. I was driving parallel to a train today and I got a bit of a thrill to think that I was going where the train was going…down that long road we went. As I was driving it seemed as if the train was running with me…faster….faster. I had to stop at a stop light…..looked to my right at the train and to my amazement the train was stopped….all this time I thought I was chasing the train….but it was never moving. We often run after things…with our own contrived concept until one day we discover …it was nothing like what we thought it was. The truth is what sets us free…not our own contrived concepts.

…Is good because you know you are still breathing for one more year…at least, of course..the year just past. …Is a day to be thankful for …my mom loved us in her own way, she had a rough life, but she saw fit to give me life and to take care of me while I was vulnerable and defenseless….so I am thankful!
….is always a day for you …if you make it that. This is the first year in years that I was not fasting on my birthday…so I had a big strawberry sundae for me!!
You know being born on a history-maker’s birthday seems to always give you the desire to make history…beyond Elvis, I know that I am going to make history somehow!…I mean that in a good way!!
…having a great birthday..so far!
Happy birthday to all the others who were born today!!!!!!Hope it’s a great day for you too!!