Podcasts about when mary

Continuing with our series on women in the literary arts, today's guest is Mary H.K. Choi, a Korean-American New York Times best-selling author. Mary has written three young adult novels and has been published in The Atlantic, New York Times, and GQ. Her latest book, Yolk, is the story of two estranged sisters who slowly heal their relationship after one of them is diagnosed with cancer. In our wide-ranging conversation today, we talk about Mary's journey to becoming a writer and some of the beliefs she had to let go of to get to where she is. We then dive into Yolk, where Mary talks about the similarities between her and one of the main characters, Jane. Mary unpacks why it was important for her to write about an eating disorder and having a fraught relationship with your body. Not only does this reflect Mary's personal experience, but it also comments on the broader pressures within east Asian communities regarding physical appearance. We also touch on intergenerational trauma and why Mary thinks it's an inevitable outcome of the immigrant experience, race, and the power of sibling hood as an immigrant. To hear all this and more, tune in today!• Hear what Mary was like as a little girl and her naturally inquisitive, scrappy nature. • When Mary realized that she wanted to be a writer and the pain that came with this realization. • The difficulty Mary faced trying to break into mainstream media. • For many years, Mary waited for permission, or for a break based on her merit. • A synopsis of Mary's latest book, Yolk, and the similarities between her and the main character, Jane. • The struggles Mary has had with eating disorders throughout her life. • Why it was so important for Mary to talk about bulimia in her book. • How Jane's low self-worth and insecurity reflect what happens to many women of color. • The different yolk signifiers and why Mary chose this as the name of the book. • Why Mary chose to explore sisterhood in Yolk, despite not having sisters herself. • Mary's fraught relationship with America and how she thinks about her identity. • Having a brother gave Mary someone to talk to about their unique immigrant experience. • Representations of East Asian men in the media and how this differs from representations of East Asian women. • How Mary chose to bring up the issue of race in a non-prescriptive way. • What Mary has learned from her characters about what it means to break free.ReferencesMary H.K. Choi - http://www.choitotheworld.com/Mary H.K. Choi on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/choitotheworld/?hl=enMary H.K. Choi on Twitter - https://twitter.com/choitotheworld?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5EauthorYolk - https://www.amazon.com/Yolk-Mary-H-K-Choi/dp/1534446001Emergency Contact - https://www.amazon.com/Emergency-Contact-Mary-H-Choi/dp/1534408967Permanent Record - https://www.amazon.com/Permanent-Record-Mary-H-Choi/dp/1534445978‎Hey, Cool Life! - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hey-cool-life/id1448378735‎Hey, Cool Job! - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hey-cool-job/id984365487Break the Good Girl Myth - https://majomolfino.com/bookMajo Molfino - https://majomolfino.com/HEROINE (Podcast) - https://majomolfino.com/podcast

Questions Covered: 05:00 – I'm an altar server. Should I bow with the priest during the consecration and rise after, or keep bowing? 13:50 – When Mary was made queen, did they actually see the coronation or was it a symbol? 18:05 – Why would God give Adam and Eve the temptation of the tree if he wanted them to go to Heaven? 21:29 – What does the Catechism mean when is says that the Eucharist preserves us from grave sins? 29:00 – Was the devil created by Jews in order to explain evil? 39:30 – Did Mary become more beautiful when she went to Heaven, or was she already as beautiful as she would be since she was without sin? 42:35 – What are some good arguments for Christianity that are not the trilemma or historical evidence? 47:40 – Why do we have to go to Heaven? 50:45 – If I pray the St. Therese novena will she give me a flower? 53:10 – Is it's okay for girls to be altar servers? …

The worst three words we could ever hear are, "you have cancer." Mary Jenkins is a two-time survivor of breast cancer. Mary had to take time off from work for her chemotherapy treatments. The sickness that followed would make her bedridden for days. She got laid off from her job! When Mary went looking for financial assistance such as welfare, she found that no help was available. Mary didn't take this lying down. While undergoing treatment and caring for her children, she founded a charity, The COC, to help people with financial assistance who had needs like hers. Her purpose is to help people through awareness, emotional support and financial assistance. Listen to this remarkable woman's story of grit and determination.

preached by Elder Chris McCool (July 11, 2021) When Mary and the other women went to the tomb, they found that Jesus was not there, but had risen from the dead. Initially, nobody believed them! But ultimately, He showed Himself … Read More

When Mary rode into London to claim her crown, she was met with celebration the likes of which had never been seen before in the city streets. Five years later, at the end of her reign, she was a hated figure. Today, she's known as Bloody Mary. [Side note: You can pre-order ANATOMY: A LOVE STORY here! https://read.macmillan.com/lp/anatomy-a-love-story/] Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

John 11:27-5727 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.35 Jesus wept.36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/yourdailybible)

Today we celebrate a woman who became a renowned floral artist late in life. We'll also learn about an English poet and politician who loved nature. We’ll recognize some of the final sentiments about the wonder of nature from a television dramatist, screenwriter, and journalist. We hear an adorable excerpt about growing a mitten tree. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about a botanist who loved the gardens, landscapes, and ecology of the Southern Coastal Plain. And then, we’ll wrap things up with the story of the scientist who helped with the first color photograph.   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to “Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast.” And she will. It's just that easy.   The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring: A personal update from me Garden-related items for your calendar The Grow That Garden Library™ featured books for the week Gardener gift ideas Garden-inspired recipes Exclusive updates regarding the show Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf.   Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to Jennifer@theDailyGardener.org   Curated News How Constance Spry radicalized the art of floristry | House & Garden | Fiona McKenzie Johnston    Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and original blog posts for yourself, you're in luck. I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there’s no need to take notes or search for links. The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community, where you’d search for a friend... and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.   Important Events May 17, 1700 Today is the birthday of the botanical tissue paper decoupage artist Mary Delany. Mary Delaney led an extraordinary life. When she was 17, her family had forced her to marry a sixty-year-old man. Mary soon discovered he was an alcoholic. To make matters worse, when he died, Mary’s husband forgot to include her in his will. Despite her lack of inheritance, Mary quickly realized that, as a widow, she had much more freedom than she had had as a young single woman. Fate brought fortune for Mary, met and fell in love with an Irish doctor and pastor named Patrick Delany. They married in June 1743. Although her family wasn't thrilled with the idea of a second marriage, Mary did it anyway. She and Patrick moved away to his home in Dublin. Patrick’s garden was a thing of beauty, and Mary wrote to her sister: "[The] fields are planted in a wild way, forest trees and … bushes that look so natural... you would not imagine it a work of art ... [There is] a very good kitchen garden and two fruit gardens which ... will afford us a sufficient quantity of everything we can want. There are several prettinesses I can't explain to you — little wild walks, private seats, and lovely prospects. One seat I am particularly fond of [is] in a nut grove, and [there is] a seat in a rock … [that] is placed at the end of a cunning wild path. The brook ... entertains you with a purling rill."  After twenty-five years of wedded bliss, Patrick died. Mary was widowed again, this time at the age of 68. But Mary's life was not over. In another stroke of luck, Mary hit it off with the wealthy Margaret Bentinck, the Duchess of Portland, and together they pursued botanical activities. The two women loved to go out into the fields and collect specimens. Through the Duchess that Mary got to know Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander. When Mary was in her early 70s, she took up decoupage - which was all the rage at the time - and she created marvelous depictions of flowers. Today, historians believe Mary probably dissected plants to create her art. Botanists from all over Europe would send her specimens. King George III and Queen Charlotte were her patrons. They ordered any curious or beautiful plant to be sent to Mary when in blossom to use them to create her art. Her paper mosaics, as Mary called them, were made out of tissue paper. Mary created almost 1000 pieces of art between the ages of 71 and 88. If you ever see any of her most spectacular decoupage pieces, you'll be blown away at the thought of them being made from tiny pieces of tissue paper by Mary Delany in the twilight of her life in the late 1700s.   May 17, 1824 On this day, the diaries of the English Romantic poet, satirist, and politician, Lord Byron, are burned by six of his friends. The act intended to protect his privacy has also been described as “the greatest crime in literary history.” The loss likely impacted botanical literature as Lord Byron also wrote about gardens and nature. Lord Byron famously wrote: There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its roar: I love not man the less, but Nature more.   May 17, 1935 Today is the birthday of the English television dramatist, screenwriter, and journalist Dennis Potter. Best known for his two hit movies, Pennies from Heaven (1978) and The Singing Detective (1986),  Dennis sat down for an interview with Melvyn Bragg, and it was titled Seeing the Blossom.  At the time. Dennis was at the end of his life. He was dying from pancreatic cancer. And in a brave and incredibly candid move, he spoke about what his life was like, knowing that the end of his life was near and how it gave him a heightened appreciation for what was going on around him.   He said, “. . . Now at this season, the blossom is out in full now, there in the west early is a plum tree, it looks like an apple blossom but it's white. And looking at it, instead of saying "Oh that's nice blossom" ...Now, last week looking at it through the window when I'm writing, I see it is the whitest, frothiest, blossomest blossom that there ever could be, and I can see it. Things are both more trivial than they ever were, and more important than they ever were — and the difference between the trivial and the important doesn't seem to matter. But the nowness of everything is absolutely wondrous.”   Unearthed Words Finding missing mittens is hard work. It would be easier to grow new ones! Let’s try planting the other mitten right here in the garden. Next spring, when the snow melts, a little mitten tree might sprout. Miss Seltzer and I would take good care of it all summer long. In the fall, we’d pick the ripe mittens. Then I’d give mittens on Christmas. And mittens on birthdays. And mittens on Valentine’s Day! ― Steven Castle Kellogg, American author, and illustrator of over 90 children's books, The Missing Mitten Mystery   Grow That Garden Library On Harper's Trail by Elizabeth Findley Shores This book came out in 2008, and the subtitle is Roland McMillan Harper, Pioneering Botanist of the Southern Coastal Plain. In this book, Elizabeth shares the first full-length biography of the accomplished botanist, documentary photographer, and southern coastal plain explorer Roland McMillan Harper who was born in 1878. The celebrated plant scientist of the New York Botanical Garden, Bassett Maguire, said that Roland had "the greatest store of field experience of any living botanist of the Southeast.” And yet, the years obscured Roland’s scientific contributions, including his unique insights on wetlands and fire. Along with his brother Francis, Roland traced William Bartram's route through Alabama and the Florida panhandle. And in his work describing plant species and writing papers, Roland corresponded with the leading botanists of his time, including Nathaniel Britton, Hugo de Vries, and Charles Davenport. This book is 296 pages of the life story of a maverick botanist from the north who fell in love with the gardens, landscapes, and ecology of the Southern Coastal Plain. You can get a copy of On Harper's Trail by Elizabeth Findley Shores and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $25   Today’s Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart May 17, 1861  On this day, the first color photograph was taken. The picture was of a tartan ribbon displayed by Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell to the Royal Institution in London. Maxwell is remembered for his formulation of the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation. In 1922, when Albert Einstein visited the University of Cambridge, his host announced that he had done great things because he stood on Isaac Newton's shoulders. Einstein corrected him when he replied, "No, I don't. I stand on the shoulders of Maxwell." In 1879 James Clerk Maxwell wrote a letter to his friend William Thompson. It's a letter gardeners can delight in, and it was titled Peacocks as Gardeners. We got our original stock from Mrs McCunn, Ardhallow. At that time (1860), the garden there was the finest on the coast and the peacocks sat on the parapets & banks near the house. Mr. McCunn was very fond of his garden and very particular about it, but he also cared for his peacocks... Whenever he went out, he had bits of bread and such for them. Mrs. Maxwell (my wife) always gets the peacocks to choose the gardener and they have chosen one who has now been seven years with us. At seed time (in the garden) they are confined in a [little house] where they have some Indian corn and water. When the hen is sitting, she is not [confined], for she keeps to her nest and nobody is supposed to know where that is, but she comes once a day to the house and calls for her dinner and eats it and goes back to her nest at once. The peacocks will eat the young cabbages, but the gardener tells them to go... They find it pleasanter to be about the house and to sit on either side of the front door.”   A professor and researcher, James, once likened the work of academia to the life of bees, writing, “In a University we are especially bound to recognise not only the unity of science itself, but the communion of the workers in science. We are too apt to suppose that we are congregated here merely to be within reach of certain appliances of study, such as museums and laboratories, libraries and lecturers, so that each of us may study what he prefers. I suppose that when the bees crowd round the flowers it is for the sake of the honey that they do so, never thinking that it is the dust which they are carrying from flower to flower which is to render possible a more splendid array of flowers, and a busier crowd of bees, in the years to come. We cannot, therefore, do better than improve the shining hour in helping forward the cross-fertilization of the sciences.” Isn’t that a grand way to look at the legacy of your work? This past week, I’ve been putting together my roster of student gardeners for 2021. As we work together during the summer, we end every session with 10 minutes of photography. The kids capture incredible color images with their phones. James Clerk Maxwell would be delighted. I am delighted at how easy it is for them to share their images of my garden with my iPhone using the airdrop feature. But in terms of legacy, think for a moment of the typical teenager’s camera roll on their phone. It’s loaded with memes, selfies, pets, and friends. Maybe a sibling or two. But after a summer of working in my garden, these kids will have hundreds of images of flowers, landscapes, leaves, stones, water, raindrops, insects, and Sonny. How do we get kids interested in horticulture? We have to change what they see every day. We have to get flowers on their phones.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

We all have some sense that there is some destiny for our lives to fulfil and yet so many people struggle lay hold of that, to really start to live the life that know is fulfilling their destiny. That's why I think it actually means to live our lives to the full that's what I think it means to get the most out of life.   Living Life to the Full (1) So can I ask you something? Are you really living the life to the full? I mean really. The worst possible outcome to my life and I think to yours too, is to get to the end of it one day and to look back and think to ourselves ‘I think I missed out, I don't think I lived the life I was meant to live, I don't' think I've fulfilled my destiny. If only I could go back and live it again and do it properly this time.' Don't you agree? Wouldn't that be just the most tragic outcome to our lives here on earth? It seems to me that we can be alive and kicking but not really living life. We can be alive but for all and intense and purposes be dead. So I guess when I talk about discovering your destiny is what I'm really talking about is being who you were always meant to be and living the life you were always meant to live. Getting the most out of life, is that something you want? I certainly do, and I hope you do as well. And so today we're going to take a look at a man who in a very real sense managed to get a second chance and whatever you may think of his story, his name is Lazarus, the question is, what does it say about your life here and now and the possibility of a second chance? It's a powerful story the story of Lazarus. It's about a real man who died and whom Jesus we're told brought back to life again. Now there are two parts to the story, we'll look at the first half right now and the second part after a short break on the program so let's have a bit of a read. Johns Gospel chapter 11 is where you'll find the story of Lazarus. Now a man named Lazarus was sick, he was from Bethany the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Now this Mary who's brother Lazarus now lay sick was the same one who had previously poured perfume on Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sister's sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love Lazarus is sick'. When he heard this Jesus said, ‘The sickness won't end in death. No, it's for God's glory so that God's son may be glorified though it. Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick he stayed where he was for two more days and then he said to his disciples, ‘Well ok, lets get up and go to Judea'. ‘But Jesus,' they said, ‘a short while ago Jews there tried to stone you and here you're going back?' And Jesus answered them, Isn't there 12 hours of daylight in a day? A man who walks by day won't stumble for he sees the worlds light, its when he walks by night that he stumbles for he has no light.' After he said these things he went on to tell them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep but I'm going there to wake him up again'. And his disciples replied, ‘But if he sleeps he'll get better.' But Jesus had been speaking of his death and the disciples thought that he was just asleep. So then he told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I'm glad I wasn't there so that you may believe. But let us go to him right now'.” The last couple of programs we've dealt with an issue, well, so many of us don't really want to deal with head on – sin. I mean in our world sin is something of a four-letter word. The stuff in our lives we know is wrong that robs us of life itself, when I look back on my life as a wealth apparently successful businessman on the outside people envied me. I seemed to have it all together and I seemed to have it all, but on the inside I was dying. I was dead and empty and hollow just like a shell, truly. I describe myself as a dead man walking. And so many people are living their lives that way today, truly they are! Are the things you're doing wrong robbing you of the life you were meant to be having? Are you a bit like this Lazarus alive sort of but not really? Sure physically alive but spiritually through the things you are doing with your life not really having a life at all? You know something, it doesn't matter how much we deny it and try and put a respectable face to it, or sell it as a feature of our freedom to do whatever we want, sin does that to all of us. It makes us dead on the inside. At this point someone might be saying, "Come on Bernie, what an old fashioned point of view." If you're in that camp I encourage you to do something, take a look, a good hard look at the way you are living your life and ask yourself am I really being the me I was meant to be? Am I really living the life I was meant to live? Do I have this sense that I'm fulfilling my destiny? See to me, it's a tragedy when people can't answer those questions with a clear assurance that yes they are being the person they were meant to be. Yes they do have a deep sense that they're fulfilling their destiny that God has for them because that's what God wants for your life, he wants a new life. Let's look at new life; let's look at how things unfold in this story of Lazarus. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him and Mary stayed at home. “Lord, Martha said to him, if you'd been here, if you'd only been hear earlier Lazarus wouldn't' have died!' and Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.' But Martha answer, ‘I know he'll rise again in the resurrection on that last day.' Jesus said to her ‘I am the resurrection and the life, who ever believes in me will live even though he dies and who ever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?' And she said, ‘Yes lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who has come into this world.' And after she said this she went back and called her sister Mary, ‘The teacher Jesus is here.' she said, ‘he's asking for you.' when Mary heard this she quickly got up and went out to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered their village but was still in the place where Martha had met him, when the Jews who had been with Mary in the house comforting her noticed how quickly she got up and went out they followed her thinking that she was going to the tomb to mourn there for Lazarus. When Mary reached Jesus and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord if only you had been here my brother wouldn't' have died.' And when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come along also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit was troubled. ‘Where have you laid him?' ‘Come and see Lord.' And Jesus wept. And the Jews said, ‘See Jesus loved Lazarus!” But some of them said, ‘Couldn't he who opened the eyes of the blind come and kept this man from dying?' See here's the thing, nobody was expecting Jesus to come along and raise Lazarus from the dead. And when we look at our lives and when we see our dead things can be on the inside and we look at God and say, ‘God, why didn't you show up earlier?' And we can't imagine how God could possibly breath life into our situation, we can believe he could have done something back then like the people with Lazarus, he could have stopped him from dying. We can believe that one day we will rise again and have eternal life, but it can be so hard so hard to believe that Jesus could come and breath a new life today, here and now. Let me ask you, what do you believe?   Living life to the full (2) Well let's get back to the Lazarus story because there is so much more in it about living our lives to the full, remember that everyone wanted Jesus to have fixed the problem before Lazarus died, but Jesus had said to his disciples he had a different plan. A plan that people around him didn't really understand, so no one could see it. Jesus was saying to Martha, Lazarus' sister. He said, "Your brother will rise again." But Martha said, "Look, I know he'll rise again on the resurrection on the last day" so she doesn't get it. She's happy to believe in pie in the sky when you die but not so much about steak on the plate while you wait if that makes sense. Lets pick up the story and lets read the simple story, its in John's gospel chapter 11 and it begins verse 38: Jesus was deeply moved when he came to the tomb, it was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ‘Take away the stone', he said. ‘But Lord,' said Martha the sister of Lazarus said, ‘by this time a bad odour will be there, I mean he's been dead for four days!' And Jesus said, ‘Didn't I tell you that if you believed you would see the Glory of God?'” I love that! If you believe you will see the glory of God! So they took away the stone and Jesus stood up and said, ‘Father I thank you that you have heard me, I always knew that you would but I'm saying this for the benefit of the people around that they might believe that you have sent me.' And when he had said this Jesus said in a loud voice ‘Lazarus, come out!' The dead man came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth was around his face, and Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go.' ” Jesus was deeply moved … I mean he loved Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha; he cared for them! Lazarus was a good friend, that's why Jesus wept for him. So it's not some publicity stunt, but it's a tender encounter when people were thinking well, what's Jesus up to? He can't do this I mean Lazarus is dead he's going to smell, he's on the nose, his flesh is already rotting! I reckon we have to be very, very careful indeed about telling God what he can and can't do. About putting God in a little box of our expectations, imagining somehow that he could somehow never bring Lazarus back to life, imagining somehow he could never really bring life back into us! You see, all these people – Mary, Martha, the disciples all the others – they'd seen Jesus do amazing things, do amazing miracles, yet they couldn't believe that he would actually bring a man back to life. It didn't even enter their minds, but he did! And look at the picture of Lazarus when he walks out of the tomb. ‘Lazarus come out!' said Jesus. The dead man came out, his hands and his feet where wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth was around his face. See Lazarus was bound up in his grave clothes, and this looks a lot like some people that I know. Living a half-life. On the one hand Jesus has spoken a word of life into them but on the other they're still bound up in their grave clothes, bound up in the things of the past, the old life. When Lazarus walked out of that tomb, beneath those grave clothes he was living and breathing there was colour in his cheeks but he couldn't' live the rest of this life wrapped in those grave clothes and the same is true for you and me. Some people have life flowing through their veins because Jesus put it there and yet they have one foot in the past in that dead half-life that didn't work, trying to live life to the full, kind of hoping things would work out but they never quite did. The picture of a living man wrapped in grave clothes is the picture of many a man's life, many a woman's life. We want to live life to the full, we want to discover our destiny and yet the past wraps us up and stops us from doing that. You know something, there is a reason for that. You can't live your life wrapped in grave clothes. What sort of life do you think would it have been if Lazarus had continued on wrapped in those grave clothes? And anyway, that wasn't Jesus' plan for him, Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go." You like that bit? Let him go, set him free. Set him free to be the Lazarus he was always meant to be. Friend, how are you living your life? Is your life lived to the full? Or is your life held back by the past? Is it a life filled with joy and peace or are you still struggling with the stupid things you keep doing all the time? Is it a life of freedom or is a life wrapped in the grave clothes of your past? I can ask you those questions but I can't answer them for you, only you can do that. And wherever you are does a question rise up in your heart, a question that goes something like this? "Isn't there some better way of living my life? There has to be!" Well there is, and it's a personal thing. "Aww you know Berni, but I want to hang on to this compromise or that old attitude I still want to cheat or lie or be tight with my money or not serve other people and I want to be selfish because you know, all this Jesus stuff is not particularly convenient." Great, great! Stay in your grave clothes, but don't expect to live your life to the full. Don't expect to realise your destiny. The alternative is to set our hearts like flint on living life to the full know matter what the cost. You know there is a cost. There is a cost for a heroin addict to give up heroin and there is a cost for an alcoholic to give up alcohol and a cost for a smoker to give up smoking. The first step always is admitting who we are, where we're at and the second is the step of deciding here and now, "You know something that joker on the radio has a point. I DO have to do something, I can't live my life wrapped in these grave clothes anymore." And you know our grave clothes are all different. For some people it might be lying and cheating, for others it might be gossiping, for other people it might just be a deep attitude of selfishness. You look in the mirror and you know what it is, and yet we're powerless to take off the grave clothes until Jesus speaks his power into our lives and says, "Take off the grave clothes and set him free." My friend the answer, the only answer is Jesus. Jesus is the one whose power breathed new life into Lazarus, Jesus is the one who set him free. Jesus is the one that can bring new life to you and to your life and set your free from the things of the past that have robbed you of your life, the full life the life God made you to live. THE answer, the only answer is Jesus.   A New Creation You know, it can be a lot easier to believe in something way, way out there something spiritual, something crazy even, than it can be to believe that anyone or anything could improve the lives that we're living right at the moment. How could anyone take a beaten up old wreck like me, me for goodness sakes and do anything with me? I want to be the "me" I was meant to be, I want to live the life I was meant to live, but it all just seems impossible, but you know so many people have that problem. I had that problem. It's just incredible to me how easily we throw ourselves onto the scrap heap. How easily other people put us out there on the scrap heap. How easily the advertising industry and our economy and all that stuff throw us out onto the scrap heap! It's interesting to me that back in Jesus' day there were plenty of people ordinary people like you and me, people who weren't rich or powerful and some of them were outcasts of society. If you were disabled in someway, blind or lame, you became a beggar because there was no social welfare system in first century Israel. If you had certain types of diseases, leprosy for instance you became an outcast. If you had certain types of occupation a tax collector, you were an outcast. We have an amazing propensity as people to push other people away for all sorts of different reasons, and sometimes we're not even being pushed away so much as well, you have an unhealthy perception of ourselves, low self esteem it's called these days, or an inability to trust people. There are so many different things from within and without that can act to isolate us to make us feel as though we don't belong and that tragedy of all that is that people live their whole lives not belonging, not feeling loved, not feeling accepted, as a result well what do you do? That's the question. Each person is valuable. You're valuable, you're beautiful, you have gifts and ability that can have such a great impact on this world if only other people could see that, if only let's face it, if only we could see that in ourselves some days. But how? There is a beautiful poem by Myra Brooks-Welsh, I'd like to share it with you today. It's call "The Touch of the Masters Hand". Maybe you've heard it before and maybe you haven't but it's really worth listening to because speaks into this very dilemma. T'was battered and scarred and the auctioneer,thought it scarcely worth his while to waste much time on the old violin but he held it up with a smile. "What am I bidding good folks?" He cried. "Who'll start the bidding for me? A dollar, a dollar then two, only two? Two dollars and who'll make it three? Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three." But no, from the room far back a grey haired man came forward and picked up the bow. Then wiping the dust from the old violin and tightening the loosened strings he played a melody pure and sweet as carolling angels sing. The music ceased and the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low said, "What am I bid for the old violin?" And he held it up with a bow. "A thousand dollars? Who'll make it two? Two thousand and who'll make it three? Three thousand once, three thousand twice and going and gone." Said he. The people cheered but some of them cried, “We don't quite understand, what changed its worth?" And swift came the reply, "The touch of the masters hand." And many a man with life out of tune and battered and scarred with sin is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd much like the old violin. A mess of pottage, a glass of wine, a game and he travels on. He's going once, going twice, he's going and almost gone. But the master comes and the foolish crowd never can quite understand. The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought by the touch of the Master's hand. It's only now as I look back on those twenty years of living this new life that I can see how little by little I've become the "me" I was meant to be. I keep stressing this but I'm not here to tell you what to believe or how you should see the world, that's something you need to figure out for yourself. But what I can do is tell you how this played itself out in my life. Around twenty years ago, I was experiencing deep depression and I had this sense of worthlessness. I thought I'd lost everything; all my hopes and dreams and my future. I was that dusty old violin. Truly! People don't expect the guy on the radio to talk about himself like that, but that's exactly how it was! I just couldn't see beyond tomorrow. I couldn't see how I could possibly be useful again, or achieve anything or become the "me" I was meant to be! Who the heck was I anyway? But there is something you have to recognise about that dusty old violin. It's still a violin. Maybe it's been neglected. Maybe he's been disused, maybe it's out of tune, maybe it doesn't look that good anymore, but it's still a violin. All that it needs is for someone to see it for what it is and that someone in my life is Jesus. This God they talk about who appeared somewhat irrelevant to me in most of my life was the one that stepped forward from the back of the room to show me exactly what I'm worth, and that right there was the most amazing experience of my life. Still is. You and I are made in the image of God you want to read about that? Go to the very first chapter of the bible, the book of Genesis the first page and it'll tell you that God looked at everything that he created and he said, "Let us make man in our image. Male and female he created us." Our mistakes and all the stuff that life throws at us can definitely make us look and feel and sound like that old violin but you know something all that it needs is for the master to come along and tune the strings a bit and strike up a tune and all of a sudden everybody else remembers what they had forgotten…its still a violin! When I gave my life to Jesus almost two decades ago, things started to happen…they didn't happen quickly from were I sat. In fact it felt like it took forever but other people would say to me, "Goodness what's happened to you? How was it that you're on the radio and you're speaking with all these people? How's that?" Nothing to do with me! I was just a battered old violin in the corner, washed up but then there was a touch of the Master's hand. And He came along and He struck up a tune. He knew exactly who I was and what He made me to be and what He made me to do and the tune he made me to play. And He put me in that place and that's what I'm doing today. And that same God, that same Jesus is here today to meet you in the place where you are.

Mary Czarnecki is a business coach & marketing strategist with nearly 20 years' experience developing creative business growth and marketing solutions for both small businesses and global brands like WebMD and Johnson & Johnson. Mary received her MBA and MEM from the Yale School of Management, and BA from Princeton University. Today, Mary works with business owners to generate profit growth using her signature M-B-A system. Through their work together, her clients are able to connect with their audiences at a deeper level, create irresistible offers, and get those offers in front of the right people. When Mary is not busy with clients, she loves spending time with her husband and two boys exploring the outdoors. She's a former Jersey Girl now raising her business and family in Oregon's Willamette Valley wine country. Learn more about Mary Czarnecki at MaryCzarnecki.com and be sure to download her free One Page Marketing Plan!

We're so excited you've joined us this morning to hear this message in our series, Broken Signposts, from Lead Pastor Cole Beshore. CONNECTCARD: https://ranchchurch.churchcenter.com/people/forms/160169 GIVING: https://ranchchurch.churchcenter.com/giving OUTREACH: https://ranch.church/outreach KIDS COLORING DOWNLOAD: https://ranch.church/downloadable-landing Message notes by Cole Beshore, May 2 2021 BROKEN SIGNPOSTS | BEAUTY 1) BEAUTY POINTS TO GOD - NOT EASILY EXPLAINED AWAY - POINTS TO THE TRANSCENDENT 2) BEAUTY POINTS TO HOPE JOHN 11:17-44 When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. Bethany was only a few miles* down the road from Jerusalem, and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” So Mary immediately went to him. Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him,* and he was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.” Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in grave clothes, his face wrapped in a head cloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!” 3) BEAUTY AS ADVENTURE - POINT TO BEAUTY - CREATE BEAUTY

SCRIPTURE: John 20:11-23REFLECTION QUESTIONS:Kenny argues that saying “He is risen!” is the single most important claim in Christian faith. What do you think he means by that? Do you agree? Why or why not?Why is it significant that the Roman authorities, the chief priests, and the disciples all blame each other for the disappearance of Jesus’s body on the morning of the third day? What does it suggest to us, as we consider the events from a historical perspective?When Mary goes to the tomb and finds it empty, what does the risen Jesus say to finally get her attention/reveal himself to her? What might we learn from that, in our own lives? What does it teach us about who God is and how God feels about us?In this sermon, Kenny argues that giving up is a good thing. He says it’s necessary, if we want to recognize a real miracle when it happens. What do you think he means by this? How does it fit into the story of Easter?Where are you struggling with feelings of “giving up” in your own life? How can the Easter story meet you where you are? What comfort might it be able to provide? How are you challenged by this message…and who can you share what you’re feeling with?

When Mary meets Jesus, she meets him as we do.

John 20:1-31 As we study John's account of the events surrounding the resurrection of Jesus, we discover three different Greek words for "saw". When Mary saw the empty tomb, it was the physical act of seeing. When Peter saw inside the tomb, he took thoughtful attention to the details. When John entered the tomb, he saw and believed. He realized what had occurred. We may not have physically seen Him, but we see by faith in His Word.

Galatians 4:4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son   Romans 5:6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.   It’s Too Late   John 11 17 When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days.  18 Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem, 19 and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss.  20 When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house.  21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.  22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” 23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” 25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.  26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”    28 Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.”  29 So Mary immediately went to him. 30 Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him.  31 When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there.  32 When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”   33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled.  34 “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.”  35 Then Jesus wept.  36 The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!”    37 But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” 38 Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance.  39 “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.” 40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?”  41 So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me.  42 You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.”  43 Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”     Luke 22 54 So they arrested him and led him to the high priest’s home. And Peter followed at a distance.  55 The guards lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter joined them there.  56 A servant girl noticed him in the firelight and began staring at him. Finally she said, “This man was one of Jesus’ followers!” 57 But Peter denied it. “Woman,” he said, “I don’t even know him!” 58 After a while someone else looked at him and said, “You must be one of them!” “No, man, I’m not!” Peter retorted. 59 About an hour later someone else insisted, “This must be one of them, because he is a Galilean, too.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”  62 And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly. John 21 15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him. 16 Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said. 17 A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time.  He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.

This Easter we look at where the Christian faith began, with the first witness of the empty tomb. Every Christian can trace his or her story back to the very first encounter of the risen Christ and Mary Magdalene. When Mary's sorrow encounters the resurrection, her life is never the same.

When Mary the Virgin was about fourteen years old, the Archangel Gabriel came to Joseph's dwelling, where she was living, and said to her, 'Rejoice, thou Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.' Receiving assurance that she had been chosen to be the Mother of God Himself, she answered in humility, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.' Immediately, the Holy Spirit came upon her, the power of the Most High overshadowed her, and the Incarnation, long awaited by the whole creation, took place: He who contains the whole universe consented to be contained in the womb of one woman, the most holy Theotokos.   The Church teaches us that it was within the holy Virgin's power to refuse the divine conception: her knowing and willing acceptance, the consummation of the faith of the whole righteous remnant of Israel, shows us that our very salvation is the fruit of the cooperation (synergia) of human faithfulness with God's saving grace.   Carrying in her womb the Savior of the Universe, the Virgin went to the hills of Judea to stay with her kinswoman Elizabeth, who six months before had conceived in her old age (by Zacharias the priest) St John the Forerunner. As the holy Virgin approached, the child John leaped in his mother's womb for joy, prophesying the coming of Emmanuel. Feeling the prophecy, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and blessed the holy Mary and the fruit of her womb. And Mary in turn glorified God, saying 'My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior' (Luke ch. 1).

When Mary arrives in Nazareth, Joseph is shocked and he decides to quietly end the engagement, but the angel Gabriel shows himself and reveals God's plan. As the due date for Jesus' birth approaches, Caesar Augustus issues a census calling everyone to return to the place of their birth. Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem where Jesus is born. In this episode, we cover our Christmas traditions and reveal how one of them could be more true than we ever imagine. Matthew 1:18-25 Luke 2:1-38 www.messagetokings.com

When Mary says "yes" at the Annunciation, the divine Word becomes flesh.  The mystery of the Incarnation entails a wondrous exchange of natures.  God takes on our human nature in order to have us share in his divine nature.  God became one of us so that we could become like him.  This lowering of almighty God to share in our human experience and our limitations is very personal.  He did it for you and me, for my good and for yours.  https://comeawaybyyourselves.com

In this episode, Pete speaks to Mary Keogh, The Mary Godmother. Mary is a life coach and has a passion for helping women to become the best version of themselves. She uses her own life experiences and desire to give back to help as many women as she can. KEY TAKEAWAYS Mary calls herself a transformational life consultant which means she begins with helping people choose a goal and then begin the ‘re-journey’ of working towards this goal. When she was younger, Mary didn’t feel like she was good enough. It meant that she got married and had her first child very quickly. She then found herself incredibly unhappy and lonely. Mary stayed as a full-time mother and had more children, they were and always have been her world. Unfortunately, two of her sons became addicts which lead to violence and she struggled tremendously with feelings of failure. She ended up having to detach herself from them to be able to look after her daughters and to cope with life. When Mary started on her journey of self-discovery and renewal the part she struggled with the most was self-homage. She had only ever seen herself as a wife and a mother and didn’t feel like she had done a great job of either. This step was a real challenge for her but she managed by changing her perception of herself and how she would talk to herself. For Mary, imagination and visualising things is incredibly helpful and healing for her. Mary uses the same steps and insights from her own journey on her clients and she watches them emerge as she did. Mary recognises that she carried her broken childhood as an adult. She carried it with her so much that her actions were still childlike as an adult. BEST MOMENTS  “We have to backtrack and take a look at who we are” “I began to change that hatred self-talk” “I could not see what other people saw” “Life’s not wonderful but I make it the best I can make it” “The only person, thing that was missing in my life was me, it was Mary” VALUABLE RESOURCES Subscribe to Fire In The Belly Podcast on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fire-in-the-belly/id1499375061) ABOUT THE GUEST Mary Keogh   ABOUT THE HOST The ‘Mighty Pete Lonton’ from the ‘Mighty 247’ company is your main host of ‘Fire In The Belly’.  Pete is an Entrepreneur, Mentor, Coach, Property Investor, and father of 3 beautiful girls. Pete’s background is in Project Management and Property, but his true passion is the ‘Fire in The Belly’ project itself. His mission is to help others find their potential and become the mightiest version of themselves. Pete openly talks about losing both of his parents, suffering periods of depression, business downturn and burn-out, and ultimately his years spent not stoking ‘Fire In the Belly’. In 2017, at 37 years of age that changed, and he is now on a journey of learning, growing, accepting, and inspiring others. Pete can connect with people and intuitively asks questions to reveal a person’s passion and discover how to live their mightiest life. The true power of ‘Fire In The Belly’ is the Q&A’s - Questions and Actions! The ‘Fire In The Belly’ brand and the programme is rapidly expanding into podcasts, seminars, talks, business workshops, development course, and rapid results mentoring. CONTACT METHOD https://www.facebook.com/mightypetelonton/ https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mightypete https://www.facebook.com/groups/430218374211579/ Support the show: https://www.facebook.com/groups/430218374211579/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The devotion for today, Monday, March 1 was written by Donald (Luke) Day and is narrated by Adam Carter. Today's Words of Inspiration come from John 11.32-35: When Mary [of Bethany] reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” she replied. Jesus wept.

In the movie Hachi: A Dog’s Tale, a college professor befriended a stray Akita puppy named Hachi. The dog expressed his loyalty by waiting at the train station each day for the professor to return from work. One day, the professor suffered a fatal stroke. Hachi waited hours at the train station, and for the next ten years he returned each day—awaiting His loving master. Luke tells the story of a man named Simeon who patiently waited for the coming of his Master (Luke 2:25). The Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon that he would not see death until he saw the Messiah (v. 26). As a result, Simeon kept waiting for the One that would provide “salvation” for God’s people (v. 30). When Mary and Joseph entered the temple with Jesus, the Holy Spirit whispered to Simeon, “Yes! This is the One!” The wait was finally over! Simeon held Christ in his arms—the hope, salvation, and comfort for all people (vv. 28–32). If we find ourselves in a season of waiting, may we hear the words of the prophet Isaiah with fresh ears: “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:31). As we await Jesus’ return, He provides the hope and strength we need for each new day.

NO MATTER how we prepare ourselves - when tragedy strikes it often throws us off the course se set for ourselves.  Mary Potter Kenyon became a certified grief counselor in 2017. Mary works as Program Coordinator for Shalom Spirituality Center in Dubuque, Iowa, where she lives with the youngest of her eight children. Mary is widely published in newspapers, magazines, and anthologies, and the author of seven books, including the award winning Refined By Fire: A Journey of Grief and Grace, and the recently released Called to Be Creative: A Guide to Reigniting Your Creativity. When Mary's husband, a five-year cancer survivor, died following a heart stent surgery in March 2012, four of her eight children still lived at home. She was 52 years old and had never worked full-time outside of her home. Suddenly she was faced with being a single parent. She had been someone’s wife since she was 19 years old. What NOW? In this interview Mary answers your questions about grief:       Where is the handbook for widows?       How do you deal with the loss of your eight-year-old-                   grandson?       How do you alleviate the pain from tragedy?       How to move forward from a place of deep darkness?

The modern-day marathon is based on the story of a Greek messenger, Pheidippides. According to legend, in 490 bc he ran approximately twenty-five miles (forty kilometers) from Marathon to Athens to announce the Greeks’ victory against their formidable foe, the invading Persians. Today, people run marathons for the personal satisfaction of an athletic achievement, but Pheidippides had a greater purpose behind his effort: each of his steps was run for the sheer joy of delivering such good news to his kinsmen! Some 500 years later, two women also ran to deliver good news—the most pivotal news in all of history. When Mary and Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb where Jesus had been placed after His crucifixion, they found it empty. An angel told them that Jesus had “risen from the dead” and to “go quickly and tell his disciples” (Matthew 28:7). The women, “afraid yet filled with joy,” ran to tell the disciples what they’d discovered (v. 8). May we have the same joyful exuberance at the resurrection of Jesus, and may it invigorate us to share the good news with others. We may not even need to “run” farther than next door to find someone who needs to know about our Savior. He won the battle against death so we might live victoriously with Him forever!

Matthew 26:36-42, Luke 10:21, John 2:13-17, John 11:32-36Mark 6:30-3430 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.Luke 10:2121 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.Luke 12:49-5049 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!John 2:13-1713 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”[c]John 11:32-3632 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.35 Jesus wept.36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”“But an authentic relationship with Christ also takes us into the depths — the shadows, the strongholds and the darkness deep within our own souls that must be purged. Surrendering to this inward and downward journey is difficult and painful.” Dallas WillardEmotional moments and emotional understanding often lead us to the greatest clarity in our thinking and understanding. These are the lightbulb moments. They capture the truth in a snapshot, as no amount of rational thinking can.Matthew ElliottEastern Spirituality = DetachWestern Spirituality = Fake ItSecularism = Escape itThe common denominator is to run away from emotional pain1. He Gives God His Feelings2. Jesus Gives God His Desires3. He Gives God His Trust“Ignoring our emotions is turning our back on reality; listening to our emotions ushers us into reality. And reality is where we meet God … Emotions are the language of the soul. They are the cry that gives the heart a voice.” Tremper Longman and Dan Allender, Bold Love

Let's learn from the historical figures of John The Baptist, Jesus, Mary, her parents, and Zachariah. When Mary's mother had just given birth to her, she asked God to protect her baby and the progeny of her baby from the devil. Look at her concern for future generations, and ask yourself internally, what are you doing today to help the youth of tomorrow?

Catholic Answers Live Christmas Quiz Show Extravaganza ROUND 1 Which gospel is the only one that mentions the magi? a) Matthew b) Mark c) Luke d) John Which gospel is the only one that mentions the shepherds visiting the baby Jesus? e) Matthew f) Mark g) Luke h) John Which gospel does not start with the infancy of Jesus but before the beginning of the world with the words “In the beginning was the word”? a) Matthew b) Mark c) Luke d) John Why did Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem? A) To be counted for the census B) To visit Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth C) An Angel told Joseph to go there What is the first season of the Church’s liturgical calendar? A) Easter B) Advent C) Christmas Who was the ruler trying to find the Christ-child to destroy him? A) Pontius Pilate B) Caesar Augustus C) Herod D) ROUND 2 What is the Incarnation? a) God entering Jesus at his baptism. b) God assuming a human nature and becoming man. c) God taking on the appearance but not the nature of a human. What is divinization (also called theosis)? a) When a person is made like God so as to share in the divine nature. b) When Jesus appears gloriously at the Transfiguration. c) When Mary is conceived in the womb without sin. Who is the theotokos? a) The beloved disciple. b) Jesus c) Mary Jesus has two natures: a) But only one will, the divine will. b) And two wills, human and divine. c) But the two natures are fused into one nature. If a priest performs a sacrament while in a state of mortal sin? a) The sacrament is invalid b) The sacrament is valid. c) The sacrament is technically valid, but no grace comes from it. Who can baptize? a) Bishops, priests, and deacons b) Any baptized person c) Any person with the right intention ROUND 3- Final Judgement 1. True or False – Constantine started the celebration of Christmas as a Christianized version of the Roman pagan holiday. 2. True or False – The Holy Spirit is created by the love of the Father and the Son. 3. True or False – Faith without works is dead. 4. True or False – The souls in heaven are still awaiting the resurrection of their bodies. 5. True or False – The Church no longer teaches that baptism is necessary for salvation. 6. True or False – Without the grace of God, which we cannot merit, we cannot be saved. 7. True or False – Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings. …

Callers choose the topics during Open Forum, peppering our guests with questions on every aspect of Catholic life and faith, the moral life, and even philosophical topics that touch on general religious belief.  Questions Covered: 02:33 – I am a Protestant. Recently I have become interested in Catholic teaching. I don’t understand the role of works in the Catholic understanding of salvation. How does that work?  13:00 – The angel Gabriel said to Mary that her cousin was six months pregnant. When Mary went to visit Elizabeth, was she present for the birth of John?  16:53 – Is there any Church teaching addressing what happens to the just and the unjust when they are resurrected?  19:45 – Is the seal in Ephesian 4:30 proof of eternal security?  28:24 – I am a PhD student and I study the occult. I know St. Paul says to avoid astrologists and the like. How far is too far in my research? I am a Catholic.  36:53 – How do we answer non-Catholics when they have complaints about the pope, particularly the Nativity scene that is in the Vatican this year?  45:58 – What is the Catholic view of celebrating Kwanzaa?  48:50 – I got baptized 3 times as a Protestant. I became Catholic and realized that is too many baptisms, especially since the first one was Trinitarian. I got really sick and I am wondering if God is upset with me for being baptized so much? Can I fix this?  52:26 – I see in the Old Testament that special graces come through the name of God. Does this have a connection to the New Testament saying, “At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bend”? …

When Mary was told by an angel that she was going to give birth to a son who would be called the Son of the Most High, Mary was greatly troubled.  How could this be?  But the angel said to her "For no word from God will ever fail."  Mary responded, "May your word to me be fulfilled."   Greg reflects on this interaction in Luke 1:26-38 and how it pertains to us today.  Listen to Clay Aiken's version of "Mary, Did You Know?"  at https://youtu.be/vol7DnFiyvQ Ways to help support HOPE is HereTexting the word GIVE to 833-713-1591Website https://www.hopeisheretoday.org/donate Shopping on Amazon, select HOPE is Here as your favorite charity (EIN: 83-0522555)Login through this link > https://smile.amazon.com/ch/83-0522555 

When Mary found out she was chosen to be the mother of the long-awaited Savior, Jesus Christ, she was, of course, shocked. At the same time, her cousin Elizabeth was shocked to conceive a child with her husband, Zechariah, even though they were both “advanced in age.” The timing allowed Elizabeth and Mary to support and encourage each other. Let’s do this, too! Let’s reach out when we need someone and let’s be the someone who someone else needs.    Resources mentioned in this episode: Luke 1:28-45, www.CelebrateKids.com   Submit your questions and share your feedback: Debbie@CelebrateKids.com, www.Facebook.com/CelebrateKidsInc, www.Instagram.com/CelebrateKidsInc

In this episode, we conclude our four part Advent series on the nature and character of Mary, our Mother. We chat about the nurturing. protecting motherhood that Mary wants to offer each of us this Christmas season. We discuss how Mary is the perfect model of loving excellently, even through suffering, and that love is always worth the risk of birth. We pray that our hearts would stay open like Mary to be able to see the joy of the resurrection on the other side of our crosses. Thank you for a great season 8 and we will see you in January! Sister Miriam’s one thing - Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen Sister Miriam’s other one thing - Little Women - Louisa May Alcott  Michelle’s one thing - Ascension’s Bible in a Year podcast hosted by Fr. Mike Schmitz  Michelle’s other one thing - The Crown season 4  Heather’s one thing - Noel - Chris Tomlin featuring Lauren Daigle   Discussion questions:     What struck you from this week’s episode? How have you received God’s grace to bring new life this advent?  How can you invite trustworthy “spiritual midwives” to be with you and help you to birth new things in your life? When Mary’s heart was pierced, she kept her heart open instead of choosing bitterness. Where are areas that God is inviting you to keep your heart open in the midst of suffering? Journal Questions: How is Jesus inviting you to receive the gift of his Mother this advent?  What is a situation where you have a choice to allow something beautiful to birth or not? Take a moment to pray for the grace to say yes to Christ this Christmas season. Where have you taken arrows in relationships for the benefit of someone else. Take some time to reflect on these situations and how Mary was with you in them.  Quotes to Ponder:   "Hear me and understand well, that nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my mantle? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything. ― Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego Scripture for Lectio Divina -  Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled,* Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine.* So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit. - John 19:25-30 This episode is created under the patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Learn more about Our Lady of Guadalupe here or pray a novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe here.

Mary set out in those days and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.   Luke 1:39–40We are presented today with the glorious story of the Visitation. When Mary was about two months pregnant, she traveled to be with her cousin Elizabeth who was to give birth within a month. Though much could be said about this as an act of familial love given from Mary to Elizabeth, the central focus immediately becomes the precious Child within the womb of Mary.Imagine the scene. Mary had just traveled about 100 miles. She was most likely exhausted. As she finally arrived, she would have been relieved and joyful at the completion of her journey. But Elizabeth says something quite inspiring at that moment, which elevates the joy of all present, including the joy of Mother Mary. Elizabeth says, “For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:44). Again, imagine the scene. It was this tiny child within Elizabeth’s womb, John the Baptist, who immediately perceived the presence of the Lord and leaped for joy. And it was Elizabeth who immediately perceived the joy in her child living within her womb. As Elizabeth expressed this to Mary, who was already joyful at completing her journey, Mary was suddenly all the more overjoyed at the realization that she had brought to Elizabeth and John the Savior of the World living within her womb.This story should teach us much about what is most important in life. Yes, it’s important to reach out in love to others. It’s important to care for our relatives and friends when they need us the most. It’s important to be sacrificial with our time and energies for the good of others, because through these acts of humble service, we certainly share the love of God. But most importantly, we must bring Christ Jesus Himself to others. Elizabeth was not filled with joy first and foremost because Mary was there to help her in her pregnancy. Rather, she was overjoyed primarily because Mary brought her Jesus, her Lord, living within her womb.Though we do not bring Christ in the same way as our Blessed Mother did, we nonetheless must make this our central mission in life. First, we must foster a love and devotion to our Lord so deep that He truly dwells within us. Then, we must bring Him who dwells within us to others. This is unquestionably the greatest act of charity we will ever be able to offer to another.Reflect, today, not only upon your mission to invite your Lord to dwell within you as our Blessed Mother did, but also upon your Christian duty to then bring Him who dwells within you to others. Do others encounter Christ living within you with joy? Do they sense His presence in your life and respond with gratitude? Regardless of their response, commit yourself to this holy calling of bringing Christ to others as an act of the deepest love.Lord, please do dwell within me. Come and transform me by Your holy presence. As You do come to me, help me to then become a missionary of Your divine presence by bringing You to others so that they may encounter the joy of Your presence. Make me a pure instrument, dear Lord, and use me to inspire all whom I encounter every day. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2020 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

“May it be to me according to what you have said!” When Mary received the news and the promise that she would carry and give birth to Jesus, God’s Son, she was initially perplexed and wondered how this could be. What an announcement to receive! No wonder she was perplexed! But Mary hears the words of promise from God’s messenger and receives them in faith. “May it be as you have said.” Mary sits in faith with her vulnerability and trusts in the promise of God. God provides us with faith to do the same. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/OHqXbMyeE8Q [Prerecorded music - Advent 4])

When Mary and Joseph faced the scariest time of their lives, God was there. Jesus came into this world, innocent and unspotted, but still faced danger and evil. No matter what we went through as children, God was never far from us. That's #goodtidings...

Sarah Reed was an award-winning creative producer and single mother of two, when two events shattered her world. The first was a brush with death when a burst appendix left her unconscious for nine hours in A & E, followed by a four-day stint in intensive care. Four weeks later her dad called to say that her mum, Mary, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Sarah describes this as one of the worst days of her life.Before the diagnosis she and her mum hadn’t been that close; Sarah had left their home in Faversham, Kent for art school at 16, since when her life had been busy, revolving around her demanding film work and bringing up her children.Over the next decade, as Mary’s dementia progressed, a newfound bond developed between them. “We learnt a new, more grown-up confidence with one another”, says Sarah. “And learnt how to laugh at our shortcomings”. Sarah and her siblings supported their parents as best they could but their father struggled to cope and in 2000 Mary moved into a care home. Sarah soon realised that while kindly and well-meaning, the staff had little or no communication training – and her frustration developed into a passion to try to help carers provide better care. Over the course of the next few years, as her dad died and her mum was forced to move care homes, twice, Sarah’s knowledge of dementia grew and with it a belief that staff couldn’t hope to develop a relationship with their charges if they didn’t know anything about them, and in order to find out about them they needed to be able to communicate with them. Sarah decided to act. At a personal level she compiled an album of photographs from her mother’s early childhood right through to her years as a great grandmother. When Mary saw the album she glowed with pleasure – although confused by the present, her mum was brought alive by the past.And thus the idea for Sarah’s award-winning Many Happy Returns Chatterbox Cards was conceived. Painstaking research into not just dementia, but compassion, philosophy and reminiscence therapy, led to cards skilfully designed to prompt conversations with older people. Two thousand cards based around the 1940s were launched in 2008. The sets sold out in three months. Today, some 9,000 sets – of 1940s and ‘50s cards – can be found in care settings, libraries, schools and private homes around the UK. Sarah went on to develop interactive communication workshops to help care staff communicate more meaningfully with residents. She believes that “Good communication sits at both the heart and pinnacle of good care”. Mary died in 2009, aged 92. Dementia may have taken her mum from her, but Sarah tells me that it also, in a way, gave back. “Caring for a loved one helps teach you a love you did not know was possible”, she says. “It’s a feeling of understanding, forgiveness and, eventually, closure”. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mary Hunter is a behavior analyst. She coaches people with their horse and dog training. She was our guide through the Listen and Learn Audio course on Applied Behavior Analysis. Our conversation with Mary Hunter began not with horses, but with gardening. When Mary shares a story whether it is about gardens or horses, there is always a point it. She uses her stories to illustrate important training concepts. So our conversation about growing plants - and sometimes failing at growing plants - took us to a discussion of extinction, finding the right approximations to build success early on, and constructional training. Dominique asked an important question - how do you become skilled at finding the right approximations for your horse? Her question led us to several useful strategies for developing creative training skills. They are described in detail in this week’s podcast.

When Mary first heard she was going to give birth to Jesus she fled to the hill country of Judea for 3 months. She needed a season of solitude to reflect and prepare for all that was about to happen in her life. Join us this week as we look at Mary's story to discover how blocking out the constant stream of noise is our lives is necessary for our spiritual growth.

I hope everyone had a happy, peaceful and safe Thanksgiving. No matter what, we have much to be thankful for – down to the very breath we breathe.We’ll be continuing our study in Luke this Sunday, reading Luke 1:39-56.It is a section traditionally called the Magnificat because that is the word in Latin that Mary exclaims when she breaks out in a song. This whole section, from Mary’s interaction with Elizabeth to the song Mary sings carries the theme of reversals.Think about all that has been reversed in Luke’s gospel so far. We started the story the story of a man, a priest – but he’s been silenced. Instead, who is now the focus of the narrative? Our first great piece of theology doesn’t come from a priest, but from the mouth of a teenage girl. Think about how that time and culture viewed women. Think about the dynamic between younger and elder people in that time and culture. What reversals are you witnessing in this text?When Mary sings her song, she is providing the theme of the Good News that Israel had been waiting for. Is this a song about going to heaven when she dies? What is the main theme of this song? What happens to the proud, what awaits the humble? What is anticipated for the rich and for the poor?Why do you think the theme of reversal is so important to Mary…as she echoes the cry of her ancestors? What implications do these reversals have for us today? In what ways do the trappings of our culture, our politics, even the way we practice our faith run contrary to what Mary sings about here? How would you apply the theme of Mary’s song to your life as a Christian today?This should prove to be an interesting study.Also, this Sunday we’ll be celebrating the Communion – if you are joining us online, be sure to have bread or wine or some symbol of sustenance handy – we’ll attend to the ritual at the end of the teaching. If you’re going to be there in person, we are still going to be using the individual pods (longing for the day when we drop the restrictions and celebrate more casually and comfortably). Hope you can join us – in person or online!Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.

When Mary recognizes the Lord's unmerited blessing, she magnifies the Lord.

No matter who you are, you have been affected by the events of 2020. I feel like the Lord has said there are many people who are “running out”. That could be one of many things: patience, love, emotions, peace, faith, money, you name it. We are running dry. Join Autumn as she opens the word to John 2:1-11, the first recorded miracle of Jesus.  Are you running out? When Mary told the servants to do whatever Jesus says- this is when the wine was replenished. We will be replenished when we do EXACTLY what JESUS tells us to do. 

When the holy and most pure child Mary (Mariam or Miriam in Hebrew) reached the age of three, her parents, the righteous Joachim and Anna, fulfilled the vow they had made to dedicate her to God. Going in procession with a company of maidens carrying torches, they presented their child at the Temple in Jerusalem, where Zecharias the High Priest took her under his care, blessing her with these words: "The Lord has glorified thy name in every generation; it is in thee that He will reveal the Redemption that he has prepared for his people in the last days." He then brought the child into the Holy of Holies — something completely unheard-of, for under the Law only the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy Place, and he only once a year on the Day of Atonement.   (In the icon of the feast, the maidens who accompany the Theotokos are shown bare-headed, as was customary for unmarried girls; but the Theotokos herself, though only three years old, wears the head-covering of a married woman to show her consecration to God.)   The holy Virgin lived in the Temple for the next nine years, devoting herself entirely to prayer. In this time she attained the utter purity of heart befitting the destined Bearer of the Most High; she became in her own person the fulfilment and condensation of all of Israel's faithfulness. Saint Gregory Palamas says that, when the Theotokos entered the Holy of Holies, the time of preparation and testing of the Old Covenant came to an end for Israel, which was now ready, in the blessed Virgin, to bring forth the Savior.   When Mary approached marriageable age, she was entrusted to the chaste widower Joseph to guard her. (The Prologue says that a life of intentional virginity was unknown among the Hebrews, so the righteous Joseph undertook the forms of marriage so as not to cause scandal among the people.)   "Wherefore the Church rejoices and exhorts all the friends of God for their part to enter into the temple of their heart, there to make ready for the coming of the Lord by silence and prayer, withdrawing from the pleasures and cares of this world." (Synaxarion)

"Fine, I'll go out for just one..." Before you know it, the sun is coming up and a buddy shoves a mirror in your face complete with a fat line of coke with your name on it. Or you've gone through three cases this week, and it's not even Friday. Alcohol is a helluva drug, and millions of people suffer from addiction, so to say alcoholism is funny feels like the slap in the face you got at the bar from the girl you were trying to take home while you were blacked out. But it is, and Mary Santora is proof of that. Sometimes, you've got to be able to laugh about the thing that's destroying your life, and sharing that laugh may be able to help someone else. Mary joins us in this episode to prove that you can laugh at being an alcoholic.  We also talk about: -How Mary got her start in comedy. -The addictiveness of performing stand-up. -When Mary came to terms with her alcoholism. -David's tool for avoiding drinking too much: his evil, drunk alter ego, City Dave. -Mary's bit on her sober quarantine experience. -How she relates her sobriety from the stage to a room full of people drinking. -The parallels of alcohol dependency and the dependency of being a kid. -Those fateful last words, "I'll just have one..." -Having an addictive personality. -How David replaced cocaine with comedy. -Mary's sage advice for less experienced comedians. -Being drunk onstage. -Writing drunk. -Alcohol being the REAL gateway drug. -The intervention that never was. -Mitch Hedberg's joke about alcoholism. -The classification of alcoholism as a disease and our misunderstanding of many mental disorders. -Mary's surprising comedic influences. -Comedians who've gotten sober and seen their success skyrocket. -The importance of starting from a place of honesty, both when performing comedy AND getting sober. -And more! Produced by Golden Ox Studio | Music: Producedbyzip 

Mary Coupland / Owner and Founder of Compass & Clock Mary was born in Brooklyn, NY and grew up on Long Island. She attended The Fashion Institute of Technology, earned an AA in Fashion Buying & Merchandising, and continued for another two years in the marketing program. When Mary was 23, she moved to Columbus, […]

In 1976, life in the small town of Circleville, Ohio was thrown into chaos when bus driver Mary Gillespie started receiving anonymous threatening letters. They expressed anger that she was having an affair with the local school superintendent, and wanted her to come clean. More people in the town started receiving letters about their own darkest secrets. When Mary’s husband Ron was found dead, the town of 14,000 people didn’t know who to blame.ALSO: Ali finds the origin of “booby trap”—EMAIL US: Webcrawlerspod@gmail.comLEAVE US A VOICEMAIL: 626-604-6262__JOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.com/invite/VNGJnHr—FOLLOW US: Twitter / Instagram / Reddit / Facebook—JOIN OUR PATREON: HERE—MERCH: https://webcrawlerspod.com— Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/webcrawlers. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As Chad loved to ask, "Which witch is which witch?"We are discussing the book Witch Child by Celia Rees. The New World, Puritans, old superstitions, a lot of wine and a few more rabbit trails to walk through. Join us for an adventure into the unknown just in time for Halloween! When Mary sees her grandmother accused of witchcraft and hanged for the crime, she is silently hurried to safety by an unknown woman. The woman gives her tools to keep the record of her days - paper and ink. Mary is taken to a boat in Plymouth and from there sails to the New World where she hopes to make a new life among the pilgrims. But old superstitions die hard and soon Mary finds that she, like her grandmother, is the victim of ignorance and stupidity, and once more she faces important choices to ensure her survival.To purchase, you can go to https://amzn.to/335FYLW . Be sure to follow us, download our episode, drop a comment, send a message, send a dove, whatever you want!twitter @2BluestockingsInstagram two.blue.stockingsfacebook two blue stockings podcastGmail two.blue.stockings.books@gmail.comSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/twobluestockings)

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

I wasn't far into my recent Georgia Jewel race when I heard footsteps coming up from behind me. Then I heard a voice, "are you Mr. Keith?" Hearing myself referred to as "Mr. Keith" made me instantly feel like an old man. When I turned and saw how young the man was from where those words came, I felt like I should probably be spending the day in a nursing home and not out on the trails of the Georgia Jewel. The young man was David Kauffman. It turns out he and his wife Mary Ann were running their first ultramarathon. David told me that in preparing for their race he had listened to my podcast conversations about the Jewel. He specifically pointed out how inspired he was by the one I recorded about my Georgia Jewel failure. Hey kid - that's not the pep talk I need today!! David was the first of three runners I encountered that day who commented on my podcasting. I'd never met any of them before. I've said my prayer that day was for God to make his presence known to me every step of the way. By the end of the race, I felt like one of the things God was telling me while we hung out was I needed to get back to recording these podcasts, since I'd been on a bit of a break from it. I tried to talk myself out of it. I'm busy with work and with other pursuits. Podcasting takes time I don't have. But God just kept putting that on my heart. So I reached out to David and Mary Ann. I asked if I could interview them about their Jewel experience. We scheduled the interview for last night. Prior to the interview, I reached out and asked if there was any part of their story they'd like to make sure we got out there. If so, I'd ask questions to lead us there. Never in a million years did I see what came next. Mary Ann responded to my question. She said she didn't know how far back I'd traced her story on Facebook, but she'd been married before. She was a 19 year-old newlywed - pregnant with her first child. She and her husband Marcus were returning home from a Thanksgiving trip. Arriving home, they saw what appeared to be a disabled car. Marcus took Mary Ann to a friend's house while he went back to help them. When he got there, though, he discovered the occupants of the car were robbing their house. The robbers shot Marcus in the head. Some time later he died. I say all the time, the reason I love interviewing runners is because they all have stories that are deeper than a runner trying to win a race or achieve some running milestone. Stories that speak to me. But I'm not sure I've ever discovered a running story quite this deep. In this interview I start by telling Mary Ann how hard it had been for me to process her story. I told her I have a son who will be 14 soon - not much younger than that 19 year-old mom and wife. I asked her, how on earth does a "kid" handle that kind of event? Her answer was simple: God. Mary went on to describe a faith I can't always comprehend. One thing she said to me stuck out in that faith. She said she was grateful she never had to deal with forgiveness. She said she forgave her husband's killers from the beginning. Mary Ann said everything else she had to deal with was hard enough; she's thankful she didn't have to battle bitterness on top of it. In that moment, before my running podcast ever got to talking about running, I knew why God had me in the middle of that conversation. It was like God was staring at me, looking for my reaction as Mary Ann talked about how thankful she was she didn't have to battle bitterness. When Mary was done telling her story, I could hear God ask, shall we talk about your bitterness now? Uhm, not right now God - I have to finish this interview. I asked David, Mary Ann's husband of five years now, how he came into Mary Ann's life. David said, I don't have a big story like Mary Ann's - I feel like I just walked through a door God opened in my life. It wasn't lost on me that's why I was in that conversation with two of the most beautiful people I've ever met. God opened a door with "hey, are you Mr. Keith?" - and God was asking me if I was going to walk through it. I'm grateful to share this interview. I can't wait for you to hear what I discovered on the other side of that door. Yes, our conversation was heavy to start, but man did we have some fun too. It might be one of the most fun interviews I've ever done. I wonder how many open doors I walk by every day. I wonder how many life changing moments I miss when I do. Today I'm full of gratitude that I walked through this one.The Georgia Jewel Trail Race Mary Ann Kauffman asks for people to not hate her husband's killers

Today I sit down with Rev. Terry Oliver to discuss the topic of grief and loss. Terry has a passion and gift for bereavement ministry that stems from his own personal experience of loss combined with decades of pastoral care. My years as a hospice chaplain, working with dying patients and their families, taught me to appreciate the sacred space and grace that one enters when grieving, and when coming alongside those who grieve.Usually I promise to talk about Jesus and talk about twenty minutes. Well, this podcast runs closer to a half hour, but I think you’ll find Terry’s insights more than worth your time. (Sorry, no transcript of this episode!)John 11:32-3732 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.35 Jesus wept.36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”The Grief Share Open House is this Thursday, September 24, from 1 to 3pm at Faith Lutheran, 1212 Connection Street in Shelton. Go to the North Entrance, and of course please wear a mask and observe all the social distancing protocols. The Grief Share classes will start in October and run through mid-December. For more information about Grief Share or other ministries of Faith, you can go to our website, www.faithshelton.org. You can also listen to or subscribe to this podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other way you listen to podcasts. Thank you for your ongoing financial support—our online giving option was having a glitch last week, but we should have that up and running by now.And if this message has touched your heart or helped you recognize and unresolved loss or grief in your life, contact the church office, or email welcomehome@faithshelton.org, and a member of the pastoral staff will contact you to offer prayer, support, and compassion.BenedictionTerry alluded to a Bible verse that seems like a good way to end today’s podcast, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.Amen.Support the show (https://www.eservicepayments.com/cgi-bin/Vanco_ver3.vps?appver3=wWsk24ZWJSTZKsGd1RMKlg0BDvsSG3VIWQCPJNNxD8upkiY7JlDavDsozUE7KG0nFx2NSo8LdUKGuGuF396vbdhmG17mgcwhAboLaaxZHtkiYnTg5dP4O6rpX5QvPEWlBhHDN59kLZFffwKfYERpQsAbQZ415_TFyeUh-ikcI7Q%3D&ver=3)

"Don't take life for granted. Be strong. Be mindful of those around you" Mary is a personal trainer and community health educator originally from Staten Island, NY and now resides in central New Jersey. Mary embraced her athletic ability at a young age, recognizing that sports gave her confidence and ultimately saved her life. On September 10, 2001, Mary enlisted in the Army and served for 6 years. Did you know that women in the military are 20-40% more likely to get breast cancer?! When Mary was born, doctors told her parents that she wouldn't amount to much, because of a facial birth defect. With the unconditional love of her parents, Mary was taught how to be strong early on. Tune in to the Behind the Bra Podcast this week as Mary shares with us her incredible story of perseverance through childhood struggles, discrimination, and how she navigated a breast cancer diagnosis at just 33 years old. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/barbellsforboobs/support

image courtesy STX Films As a child, I was probably more akin to the young heroine of Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess; always believing I was a secretly a princess and yelling about the unfairness of a world that no longer believed in magic. But despite our differences, I always held a deep affection for Burnett's anti-heroine, Mary Lennox. I feel like this latest adaptation of The Secret Garden from STX Films, shows why I was right to back this dark horse. Set against the lush green backdrops of India and England, this adaptation of Burnett's classic story delves deep into the love and loss that has always hovered over this tale. Produced by the good people behind the recent Paddington films, The Secret Garden follows Mary (Dixie Egerickx) and Colin (Edan Hayhurst), orphaned cousins connected by their twin mothers. Mary has grown up in India because her father was stationed in the country while it was occupied by British imperial forces. Colin has grown up in Misselthwaite Manor, an English estate set beside a British moor. While they've grown up quite far apart, their childhoods were similar in that they've both been horribly spoiled and thoroughly neglected. When Mary returns to England following the death of both her parents, Misselthwaite is a dark, oppressive space that has been closed off by Colin's father, Lord Craven (Colin Firth), following the death of his wife. Mary, with the help of Dickon (Amir Wilson), overcomes her own brattish sensibilities and brings life back to the secret garden and the manor.  The screenplay by Jack Thorne expands on the story of Mary and Colin's mothers, giving depth to the children's backstory that hasn't been seen onscreen before. As the twin ghosts that center this film, you can see the profound effect that their mother's deaths have had on Mary and Colin's sense of self. The director, Marc Munden, takes this tale of grief and infuses it with life as the garden Mary and Dickon tend takes on epic proportions and scale. The trees move to lift up the young girl as she explores, the leaves bend to greet her and curl away when she's sad. The visual storytelling blends the real and fantastic so the garden becomes a physical manifestation of the growth of these characters.  The film is not without its shortcomings. While I applaud the attempt to touch upon the problematic nature of its protagonist's upbringing with the flashbacks to colonial India and the colorblind casting of Amir Wilson and Isis Davis as Dickon and Mary, the film chooses to use Mary and Colin's grief as the rationale behind their spoiled personas rather than address the problematic nature of race and class inherent in this period of Britain's history. Although it's never been explicitly addressed in any adaptation of Burnett's work, given our current time, her work is ripe for a critique of the social structures of colonial Britain. Despite this, fans of the classic tale, will find new ways to fall in love with this story, while those new to the material will be immersed in a tale that doesn't shy away from the underlying sadness of this story. And that's a good thing. Like Mary, we are discovering new ways to be, new things about the people we love and the people we've lost and most importantly, new ways to tell our stories.  The Secret Garden premieres via PVOD on August 7th in the US and Canada. Watch the full trailer below and check out the audio review with The Doctor as well. 

When Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, it was at the exact time and place prophesied by Micah some 700 years before. Examine this spectacular prophecy as Micah outlines Christs humility, deity, and care for His people in detail.