SHREK 2

                             

I just finished watching the DreamWorks movie, Shrek 2, and I really enjoyed it.

The reason I mention it here is that it speaks to one of the world’s most serious problems—differences in the appearance and behavior of people - people in our families, communities, nations, and all over the world.

God created all kinds of people—people of different sizes, shapes, colors, and languages. And what did God say when he created the people and the world we live in? 

He said, “It is very good!”

“Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!”—Genesis 1:31 NLT

Have you ever heard it said, “God doesn’t make junk?” Of course, you have; we all have.

If God doesn’t make junk, and he said that everything and everyone he made is very good, then why do we argue and fight against those who are different from us? Good question!

The story of Shrek and Fiona and her family in Shrek 2 tells of their trip to Far, Far Away Kingdom where her parents live—the king and queen. As the story unfolds, Shrek and Fiona drink a magic potion that changes them from homely, green Ogres into a beautiful couple 

like her parents and all the people in their Kingdom. Everyone looks alike. Get the picture? No differences in their appearance or behavior or the way they talk. 

Everyone is happy, right?

Wrong!

Fiona decides she loves Shrek and wants them to be just as they were before—homely Ogres.

What is significant about the movie is this:

Love and happiness have nothing to do with appearance or culture or where you live. To God, everybody and everything he created is beautiful—very good!

Sometimes I think our world is upside down.

So many people and institutions place value on other people based on appearance, culture, the way they talk or walk or any of a dozen other things—that is the opposite of how God made us.

We are made to love God and love each other. Only then can we see the real beauty in other people and in nature. Only then will we know real joy and happiness the way God intended:

Jesus said it in John 10:10, 

“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” 

Be happy! Love one another. Start at home.

The Way of Saint James

The Way of St. James, or as it's known in the Spanish speaking world, El Camino de Santiago, was featured in one of my favorite movies: The Way, starring Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez was released in April 2010. Emilio Estevez and Barry Shay directed the film.

Sheen plays the father who travels overseas to retrieve the remains of his son (Estevez) who was killed in a storm while crossing the Pyrenees on the 500 mile pilgrimage to St. James cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Sheen, as Doctor Tom, takes his son's ashes and sets off on the pilgrimage himself, both to honor his son and to take his ashes to the ocean at the end of the St. James Way. 

The scenery is fantastic and beautiful, and the doctor meets many interesting travelers on his journey across Spain. He is touched by the spirit and memory of his son Daniel on the pilgrimage, wishing he had spent more time with him while he was alive. The candlelight service at the church in Santiago gives the whole pilgrimage experience a deeper and more spiritual significance.

I know you will enjoy seeing the movie. I've seen it a couple of times and each time find something new and interesting. This movie has motivated me to include the pilgrimage of St. James Way on my Bucket List of must-do things before I die. I may not be able to walk the whole distance (it takes about two months to complete), but I hope to walk the beginning few miles, and several miles culminating at the cathedral candlelight service and on to the ocean. See the movie. I know you'll like it.

Best wishes, Gene             

www.amazon.com/Gene-Allen-Groner/e/B077YTVSJZ 

genallengroner@gmail.com

 From Shepherd to King

 The story of David is one of the most interesting and colorful stories in the Bible. It is a story of redemption and victory, war and peace, adventure and palace intrigue that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the book.

Visit my author website and see this book and my other 40 books at https://www.amazon.com/Gene-Allen-Groner/e/B077YTVSJZ

Mother Teresa and the Voice of Jesus

Listen carefully to the many testimonies of those around the world who have been led into the fellowship of the Community of Christ. The richness of cultures, the poetry of language, and the breadth of human experience permit the gospel to be seen with new eyes and grasped with freshness of spirit. That gift has been given to you. Do not fail to understand its power. It is for divine purpose that you have been given the struggles as well as the joys of diversity. So must it always be in the peaceable kingdom. Do not be defined by the things that separate you but by the things that unite you in Jesus Christ. —Doctrine and Covenants 162:4a–b, 5a

When I think about a life of service, I think about Mother Teresa. She is known in the Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta. She was born in Albania on August 26, 1910, and passed away September 5, 1997, at the age of 87. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 and devoted her life to serving the poor. Mother Teresa and the other members of the Missionaries of Charity take vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience. They vow to give “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor.” In 1979 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work among the poor in Calcutta, India.

“Today, I learned a good lesson,” she once said. “The poverty of the poor must be so hard for them. While looking for a home I walked and walked till my arms and legs ached. I thought how much they must ache in body and soul, looking for a home, food, and health.”

This humble Christian woman has been an inspiration to me. I have long admired her conviction, her lifetime of service, and her devotion to the Lord. She was a person of great courage and a person of peace, exemplifying the ministry of Christ throughout her life. According to former U.N. Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, “She is the United Nations. She is peace in the world.”

She often spoke of service, and once said, “We can do no great things—only small things with great love.” I have often quoted this saying, reminding myself that whatever small thing I may do for others, it must always be done with great love.

When I think of my journey as a disciple, I am reminded of a hymn, “Hark, the Voice of Jesus Calling” by Daniel March:

Hark, the voice of Jesus calling, who will go and work today?

Fields are white and harvests waiting,

who will bear the sheaves away?

Loud and long the Master calls you;

Rich reward He offers free.

Who will answer, gladly saying,

“Here am I, Oh Lord send me”?

INSPIRATION - Jesus Calling

by Sarah Young

Worship Me only. I am King of kings and Lord of lords, dwelling in unapproachable Light. I am taking care of you! I am not only committed to caring for you, but I am also absolutely capable of doing so. Rest in Me, My weary one, for this is a form of worship.

Though self-flagellation has gone out of style, many of My children drive themselves like racehorses. They whip themselves into action, ignoring how exhausted they are. They forget that I am sovereign and that My ways are higher than theirs. Underneath their driven service, they may secretly resent Me as a harsh taskmaster. Their worship of Me is lukewarm, because I am no longer their First Love.

My invitation never changes: Come to Me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest. Worship Me by resting peacefully in My Presence.

I Timothy 6:15-16  ESV
15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

Isaiah 55:8-9  ESV 
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Revelation 2:4  ESV
But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

Matthew 11:28  ESV
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

 

Frosty Mornings

Frosty Mornings

When frosty mornings chill the air

And sounds of falling leaves are there

To lift our spirits oh so high

Away up where the eagles fly

How sweet it is to see God's plan

Unfolding from his glorious hand

For precious moments such as these

Still come to those whose heart God sees*

*from my book, 2020 Poems by Gene Allen Groner on my website at

https://www.amazon.com/Gene-Allen-Groner/e/B077YTVSJZ

Love One Another

God loved the world so much that he gave his

son and he gave him to a virgin, the Blessed

Virgin Mary, and she, the moment he came in

her life, went in haste to give him to others. And

what did she do then? She did the work of the

handmaid, just so. Just spread that joy of loving

to service. And Jesus Christ loved you and loved

me and he gave his life for us, and as if that was

not enough for him, he kept on saying: Love as

I have loved you, as I love you now, and how

do we have to love, to love in the giving. For he

gave his life for us. And he keeps on giving, and

he keeps on giving right here everywhere in our

own lives and in the lives of others.

 

It was not enough for him to die for us, he

wanted that we loved one another, that we see

him in each other, that's why he said: Blessed

are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.

 --Mother Teresa, from my book Saint Teresa of Calcutta, available in paperback and eBook on my author website at https://www.amazon.com/Gene-Allen-Groner/e/B077YTVSJZ