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Showing posts from November, 2021

An Alternative to Black Friday?

 As you may or may not know, "Black Friday" is the day that merchants discount "hot items" and shoppers camp out overnight, or line up when most folks are sleeping, to be the first inside to snap up the limited supply of "must have" goods. Shop clerks are instructed on how many choice pieces any one customer can purchase. Store doors open at unusual hours and shoppers rush in...each one headed for the items of their choice. Does this sound exciting?  Here's a reality that isn't widely know. Serious incidents related to Black Friday shopping have been recorded since 2008. At least 14 people have died and 117 been injured (US Sun, November 26, 2021). Children and teens have been among those who have experienced trauma at the scene of Black Friday sales.  I want to propose an alternative. What if people camped out or lined up early to be one of the first to enter a house of worship? And, once inside, they took the seats toward the back so that those w

Hannah's Prayer

 Life was not what Hannah wanted it to be. In a culture that valued a child-bearing woman, she was an odd ball. Married to a husband who loved her dearly, that love was not sufficient because their love had not produced a child. No matter what her husband did for her, the longing for a child could not be quenched. And the fact that a rival wife (the culture permitted more than one) had given their husband several children added to Hannah's self-reproach; especially since the rival took every opportunity to remind Hannah she had no children. Year after year the longing in Hannah's soul grew into an agony that produced bitter tears and loss of any desire to eat. In her heart life was miserable. Things looked bleak.  But Hannah decided to do something that changed her life. Hannah prayed! She prayed the disappointment she had felt month after month and year after year, the soul pain of the constant torment from her adversary, the ever-diminishing self-esteem; and the tears flowed