today that seems to be ban from the market, banish from the culture and to be sure, burn in a bonfire – to be certain the offending book is gone – gone for good. This banning, banishing and burning of books does not happen in a free society. The fact that it is happening here, now, in this country, the United States of America, should concern everyone. Because today someone else’s books and ideas are banned. But tomorrow it could be your books and your ideas that are no longer welcome. When one person loses their voice we all lose our voices. I must defend those whose ideas I do not agree with, because they have the right, the freedom, to write and create whatever they want to produce.

I am free also. I don’t have to read a book or to buy a book if it offends me. Simple as that. I just don’t buy it or check it out of the library. Same with art. If I find it objectionable, I don’t have to look at it or purchase it. If something offends me on the TV or the radio, I can simply change the channel or turn it off. I don’t have to watch or to listen. I am free to choose what I read, listen to or watch. I am free to choose what products I purchase and what products I don’t.

But why do I need to have the things that offend me taken off the air or off the shelf in the bookstore or the library? Isn’t it enough that I am free to choose for myself? Why would I want to make those choices for other people about what they can or can’t read, or listen to or watch or purchase? I don’t want anyone else making those decisions for me so why would I want to make those decisions for other people? Even if I am in a position of leadership or of power, I don’t want that responsibility. Individuals need to be responsible for their own decisions and they must be free to make those decisions for themselves as they see fit.

Freedom believes in the individual person. Freedom believes people will choose well and do right by themselves and by each other if left to their own devices. Why? Because without intervention and rescue, they will experience the consequences of their choices and adjust those choices accordingly. We don’t need government making decisions for us that are ours to make for ourselves.

It has been said, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” Perspective is everything apparently. What one person finds offensive may not be so to other people. So by whose standards do we live? Who gets to dictate to the rest of us what books are available for us to choose from, for us to read or to purchase? Through whose “eye” will we be required to view the world in all its various aspects? Whose vision is deemed the “correct” vision?

Recently some Dr. Seuss books were labeled something – offensive, racist, problematic, unacceptable . . . by whom, I would ask? Who gets to dictate to the rest of us what we can and can’t read? Offensive to who and by what standard? Problematic is a convenient, catch-all label that could mean just about anything to anybody. It implies the book creates a problem, I guess. Questions at this point could be, “a problem for who?”, “what is the actual problem created by the book?” and “is a ‘problem’ a bad thing, a harmful, damaging or a fatal thing?” or is a problem just something to be solved as in a math problem or a puzzle? If a book is challenging or thought provoking or provides a new perspective is that to be feared and therefore eliminated so that people don’t have access to this book or to this information?

I thought diversity was the desirable goal in all things. Do we no longer want diversity in our libraries and in our bookstores? Why would we allow the elimination of diversity in our literature, which leads to the elimination of diversity of thought and ideas? Why would we not want diversity in the publishing world that brings to market all types of manuscripts? And why is someone (whoever is raising these objections?) evaluating books written in other eras by the standards of today rather than by the standards of the era in which they were written and published? Are they not able to understand and apply context? Do they not realize what books written in past time periods are? They are windows into a world we would altogether miss if not for the view these written accounts provide us. Books are windows with a view – a spectacular, personal, intimate, unique view into the world others lived in before we came to be here. Books are our invitation to share in that world and in the lives of people we otherwise would never meet, due to time or distance.

Books invite us to view the world through the eyes of someone else. The author makes available to us a perspective we could not experience on our own. However, we don’t have to accept the author’s invitation. That choice is ours alone to make. But why would I want to deny someone else the opportunity to accept that invitation, ie. to read that particular book even if I choose not to read it? It is at this point that I am wondering just who is denying me (and others) the right to read certain Dr. Seuss books if I so choose? If they (whoever “they” are) are offended by these books, they don’t have to read them or purchase them or have them in their home. But why are “they” allowed to make that choice for other people? Why are “they” allowed to make that choice for me? This is not what Freedom looks like.

Freedom’s face bestows her favor on one and all equally. She does not take kindly to anyone who would deny another person access to her many benefits and protections. Freedom protects our “unalienable human rights” which God gives us. (remember “endowed by their Creator”?) So I am wondering who are these anonymous, deeply offended individuals who are denying the rest of us our right to decide for ourselves what we read and don’t read? Are an anonymous but vocal few dictating to a silent majority what we can and can’t read? That used to be called censorship. Censorship has no place in a free society. Which then begs the question – are we a free society today?

Without a free press and with books being banned without debate or discussion, the face of something dark, ugly and oppressive.hoovers over our land, threatening to extinguish Freedom’s light. If one book can be banned (removed from libraries, stores or not allowed to be published) then any book can be banned because every book is bound to be offensive to someone, somewhere, at some point in time. (pun intended) Well, I guess without any books left to read, we won’t need Freedom’s light to read them by anyway.

Books may be banned but my thoughts are still my own to choose. I think I will follow Paul’s advice to the Philippians, when he said –

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:2)

sincerely, Grace Day

I confess – history wasn’t of any particular interest to me as a child. It was simply a required subject of study in school. Although, from time to time, certain people did stand out to me and capture my imagination. In elementary school one of those people was Harriet Tubman. Her bravery, her daring, her courage captured my imagination like few other historical figures did. I imagined her hardships. I cheered her clever escapes and rooted for her as she put herself in danger over and over again, in order to help other slaves escape to freedom. I admired her greatly.

Today, though my perspective is now that of an adult, my admiration and respect for Harriet Tubman has only grown. I now more fully realize the truth of who she was and what she accomplished. As the full weight of her courage and her contribution to history and to humankind becomes clearer to me today than it was for me as a child, my appreciation for the person of courage, commitment, and perseverance that Harriet was only deepens.

That is probably why these words on the classroom wall stood out to me today. “There was one of two things I had a right to – liberty or death. If I could not have one, I would have the other.” – Harriet Tubman spoke those words. Immediately I thought of Patrick Henry, who years earlier (1775) had cried out, “Give me liberty or give me death!” Kindred spirits, separated by time, Harriet and Patrick both knew the value of freedom and the price often required to obtain it.

Both desired to be able to live free above all else. And both were willing to pay the price necessary to purchase freedom for themselves and for others as well. Unless one has lived in bondage and oppression, I don’t think one can truly appreciate freedom. Must be why so many people from around the world continue to come to the U.S. As awful as we are told our country is and has always been, people arriving here from other countries tell us that they prefer to be here rather than living in the nation they left.

Turns out there is more freedom, opportunity and possibility of prosperity and success here than in many places around the world. But if America is no longer a nation of free peoples where will the oppressed of the world look for help and hope? If the light in the darkness goes out what good will an unlit torch be when passed to the next generation? America has long been that “shining city on a hill” to other nations. This description of our nation arose out of a sermon John Winthrop preached in 1630 aboard the ship, the Arbella, which was sailing for the New World. Winthrop’s expectation was that the new Massachusetts Bay colony would shine as an example to the rest of the world. The Puritans on this ship were leaving everything behind in pursuit of their dream of freedom. They wanted to be free to worship God, not forced to serve their current King. They had made a pact with God and the world would be watching.

In his sermon, Winthrop proclaimed, “The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” It would be one hundred and forty-six years later that similar words would be written into our Declaration of Independence saying that we are “endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The dream was still alive but much hardship lay ahead if it was to survive. The Revolutionary War would exact a price for the freedom our founding fathers sought.

Almost one hundred years later, freedom was still being desperately sought after right here in our own country. Again the price was high. Many gave their lives so that others might live in freedom – a freedom they themselves would not live to enjoy. The future of our nation was uncertain, as Abraham Lincoln acknowledged when he said, “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.”

We were a new nation, a young nation. Could we endure? How had America come to be? Lincoln said we were a nation, “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that ‘all men are created equal.’ ” No kings or caste system here. One didn’t have to be a rich monarch to own land. Could this great experiment succeed? The world was watching as we went to battle with ourselves, to decide whether equality and freedom were for everyone (as promised) or were they only for some? So many lives were lost in those battles fought to ensure that everyone was to be free in this country. They did not die in vain. Slavery was abolished and the long process of implementing this ideal began.

People continued to pour into America over the next century. America had become that “shining city on a hill” that John Winthrop had proclaimed in 1630 that she should be to the world. The vision that the Massachusetts Bay colony would shine as an example to the world had been realized. The U.S. was that light of freedom, that beacon of hope to other people and nations around the world. Most recently, Hong Kong, in their valiant efforts to remain free, looked to the U.S. for hope and encouragement. But if we are no longer free, the light of freedom will fail to shine and the beacon of hope we have been will be no more. It is a dark world in which no liberty lives.

Harriet Tubman knew that to be true. So did Patrick Henry. They both dedicated their lives to keeping the light of freedom alive. After the Civil War, Harriet continued to be a freedom fighter. She dedicated her efforts to helping women fight for the right to vote. Harriet understood that freedom has a voice and a vote is a voice. Without a vote, our voices are not heard. Harriet knew that if our voices are silenced, we are no longer free. Harriet was courageous enough to let her voice be heard as she traveled around speaking in favor of the women’s suffrage issue. I wonder where Harriet got her courage?

She was a woman of firm faith in God and this no doubt fueled her conviction that all are equal and all must be free.

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

“Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” (Colossians 3:11)

Harriet understood that all lives are infinitely valuable to God, who created us in His image. Her faith fueled her desire to see everyone set free. I’m guessing Harriet experienced the truth of these words in her own life –

“Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:34-36)

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

“Jesus said, ‘If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ ” (John 8:31-32)

These words illuminate the connection between faith, freedom and truth. A country founded on faith in a God who “shows no partiality”, will be charged with providing freedom and equal opportunities for all of its citizens, not just some of them. Nations ruled by monarchs, dictators, despots and other power hungry people have no such mandate guiding them in governing a people who “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” Governments that do not recognize God as the Source of life and of all things, do not recognize individual human rights. They have no reason to do so.

This foundation of faith is what set America apart from other nations. When America loses her faith in Almighty God, her people will lose their freedoms and she will cease to exist. The light will go out. The city on a hill will be no more. The world is watching, wondering, waiting. When we are no longer free, to where will they go in search of that “better life” that Freedom provides, known as the American Dream?

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

“if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.” (2 Chronicles 7:14-15)

humble ourselves, pray, seek God, turn from our ways to His ways – leads to – God hearing, God forgiving, God healing . . .

sincerely, Grace Day

Today is March 12th. As I sit in the classroom, I have two students here in the room with me and sixteen students are logged in online at the moment. I can’t see their faces, just their names appear on the screen. They can hear me (if the connection is working properly) and I can hear them (again, if technology is holding up her end of the bargain). The significance of today’s date does not escape me. March 12th is a memorable date for me and perhaps for many of you as well.

A year ago today, I was here at school. My classroom was full, it was full of noisy, sometimes inattentive students interacting with each other and hopefully with me and the lesson being presented. Passing periods were loud as the halls filled with students trying to get to their next class. There were announcements and much discussion of upcoming school events such as sports, prom, exams, college applications, graduation. The building was alive with the people that filled it up everyday. It was full because the students filled it up with their dreams, their daily struggles, their fears, their failures, their growth, their successes, their questions, with their quest to discover and to become who they were meant to be –

with so much going on inside these walls, school a year ago was a busy, bustling place, bursting at the seams with the daily drama of teenage lives on their way to adulthood. That was the reality of March 12th one year ago. Little did I know that day, that the next day all the schools would be closed. Little did I know that they would remain closed for so long. And who would have predicted that today, one year later, schools still are not fully open? (unless two students in a classroom is considered full now?) Learning is still online several days a week, if not completely. Today’s virtually empty (pun intended) classroom stands in stark contrast to my memories of one year ago.

It is difficult to look back over the past year and reflect with any sense of making sense of what we have been through. It has been a corporate experience and it has been an individual experience at the same time. Things we all took for granted have been taken from us and we are still waiting for them to be returned to us. I look back over a landscape of loss, of loneliness and of isolation. It is hard to find the path that leads back to connection, to community and to abundance. Finding that path back seems to be the challenge both publicly and personally. How do we come out of isolation and reconnect with those we have not seen in so long?

I confess – a year ago, I never thought that I would still be writing “Corona Chronicles – True Confessions” one year later. I keep waiting for an end point, a graceful exit as it were. But none seems to be in sight. I thought when COVID no longer controls our lives, that would be a good end point to “Corona Chronicles.” When COVID rules and restrictions don’t dominate the news and dictate our decisions and our daily lives, maybe then? When the virus is a memory rather than a daily reality? It seems false to end when we are not at the end. As I continue looking for the way forward, as each of us must determine for ourselves, these words come to mind,

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.” (Psalm 32:8)

Those words give me hope as I continue to trust my Heavenly Father to lead me through this seemingly never ending era of COVID. He knows the way. Today, on this one year anniversary, as I look back and now look forward, I will trust Him and follow Him, knowing there will come a day when I will say these words along with David,

“You turned my wailing into dancing; You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give You thanks forever.” (Psalm 30:11-12)

sincerely, Grace Day

we all want a really good deal, something too good to be true and yet there it is, right in front of us, a great bargain, something we’ve been wanting, something we’ve been searching for, something we desperately desire, but haven’t been able to find – now the offer is given, it is made – we just have to decide whether to accept or to reject this offer that seems so ridiculously wonderful that we find ourselves questioning if it is even real or is it just a scam designed to deceive and to damage anyone foolish enough to fall for this unbelievable offer?

there are a lot of scams out there right now, but then there always have been – because there have always been people willing to take advantage of other people by deception and trickery. One simply can’t be too careful these days – or any days.

However, there is an offer, a long-time, standing offer, always on the table, that I would be foolish to overlook, to ignore or to turn down. It is an offer I simply can’t refuse – to do so would be the death of me. The promise does seem too good to be true. This offer is a free gift with huge benefits – but many consider the cost too high. Most are not willing to pay the price. (irony – a free gift with a high cost? how can this be? spoiler alert – that high cost has already been paid for me by Someone else – so now the gift is free to me)

So just what is this fabulous, life saving, life giving deal that I dare not refuse? Jesus reveals it when He extends this offer in Matthew 11:28-30 saying,

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

I am weary, I desire rest – especially rest for my soul. Rest for my body is easier to obtain (take a nap) but rest for my soul is totally elusive. And what is more, I wear myself out chasing after and searching for the soul rest I seek – the rest that my soul cries out for. So the cost is that I leave my yoke behind and instead I come to Jesus, I take His yoke, I learn from Him and I find rest for my soul in the process. come – take – learn – find. I can do that. What else is included in this “too good to be true” offer? Isaiah 1:18 tells me,

” ‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’ ”

That’s something I need in order for my soul to rest – forgiveness. And forgiveness is part of this outlandish offer that I dare not refuse. This offer even comes with a promise (better known as a guarantee in the retail world) I find this guarantee in 1 John 1:9 which tells me,

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

The price is confession before God, the price is honesty and humility – but what a bargain I receive in return! the forgiveness of my sins, restoration of my relationship with my Heavenly Father, right standing with Him. Why would I not be willing to humble myself and honestly confess my sins and shortcomings before Him each day? What a generous offer of forgiveness and purification if I accept instead of refuse His invitation.

But there’s more to this offer, it is kind of a package deal. (isn’t that what bargains are? you purchase something but other things are thrown in as bonuses to sweeten the deal) John 1:11-12 tells me what I get in return for receiving Jesus because incredibly when Jesus came, there were those who did not receive Him. (I guess they could refuse His once in a lifetime offer?) Nevertheless I read,

“He (Jesus) came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God -”

the price? receiving Jesus, believing Jesus. the purchase or the offer? becoming a child of God! priceless!

Being adopted into God’s family has a ton of benefits! I read about some of these in Psalm 103:2-18,

“Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. . . . The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. . . . He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. . . . as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. . . . from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children – with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.”

what a benefit package! with bonuses too numerous to enumerate them all. this list from Psalm 103 is just a preview, a glimpse of all that God gives to His adopted sons and daughters. the cost? I am to keep His covenant and obey His precepts. In return, I receive so many priceless gifts included in His offer – forgiveness, healing, redemption, rescue from the pit I dug for myself, love, compassion, giving me good things that satisfy me, renewing me, working righteousness and justice in my life and on my behalf, removing my transgressions and keeping His covenant not only with me but also with my children’s children!

I confess – this is way more than I deserve, way more than I could dare to hope for – and yet this is all part of the offer God makes available to me through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. I would be a fool to refuse this offer so full of life and of all things good and true. In fact, the missionary Jim Elliot said as much when he stated,

“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

How true! This really is one offer I can’t refuse. Well, of course, the choice is ultimately mine to make – I could refuse God’s offer of eternal life with Him, but why would I do that? Do I think the cost is too high? giving up what I can’t keep anyway to gain what my Heavenly Father will keep secure for me until I need it – that doesn’t sound like a bad trade off at all. In fact, I say along with Paul, who wrote in his letter to Timothy,

“Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12)

So what would stop me from accepting this offer? It requires that I swallow my pride – is that too high a price? Repentance, confession, humility, acknowledging my need for a Savior – are those too costly for me to give? Losing my life to find it, doing things God’s way rather than my own way – is that too high a cost? Would that cause me to refuse this unrefusable offer from God?

Jesus declared, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10) How can I refuse that offer? John 3:16 reveals God’s offer to me (and to each person) very clearly saying,

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

cost – belief in Jesus; offer – eternal life. Romans 10:9-13 explains God’s offer this way,

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ ”

Wow! an unrefusable offer with an irrefutable guarantee! cost – confess out loud, believe in my heart, trust in Jesus, call on Him; offer – eternal salvation. that’s an offer I can’t refuse, an offer I dare not refuse, an offer I can embrace with confidence – one that you can, too, dear readers . . . this offer is for everyone, while supplies last, of course – but being an infinite God, His supply of all that He is offering to you and to me will never run out – it will last for eternity.

sincerely, Grace Day

every head’s in the house tonight, every head’s on a pillow, gonna be alright.

the Savior’s love stands guard tonight, every head’s in the house, gonna be alright.

let time stand still in this house tonight, while every head’s on a pillow it will be alright.

with the melody of the moonlight lullabying us through the night, while every head is in the house, it will be alright.

books were read and prayers were said, now a pillow’s been found for every head –

and every head is in the house tonight, every head’s on a pillow, all is right –

let tomorrow take her time in coming round, for tonight every head’s in the house, all safe and sound.

let sleep be sweet as dreams take flight, while God’s grace keeps us all the night.

and if the night should fill with rain and wind arise against the pane – still every head on their pillow slumbers, for Your protection all danger outnumbers.

Heavenly Father,Your mercies are many, Your care is complete – even as we slumber, all our needs You meet.

yes, every head’s in the house tonight, while every head’s on a pillow, gonna be alright. 

the Savior’s love stands guard tonight, every head’s in the house, gonna be alright.

“I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.” (Psalm 3:5)

“I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid.” (Leviticus 26:6)

“By day the Lord directs His love, at night His song is with me – a prayer to the God of my life.” (Psalm 42:8)

“On my bed I remember You; I think of You through the watches of the night. Because You are my help, I sing in the shadow of Your wings. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.” (Psalm 63:6-8)

“He will not let your foot slip – He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm – He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” (Psalm 121:3-8)

sincerely, Grace Day

“Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you.’ ” (Acts 3:6)

once carried in my arms, now carried in my heart – time and distance intervene to keep us far apart

yet know, I am loving you today – standing in the gap for you, as you go on your way.

storming heaven’s gates, calling on angels’ care – asking God to watch over you, every mother’s prayer.

praying you sense His presence, when you feel most alone – that you know Christ’s love for you, which on the cross was shown.

asking God to give you strength, when your path grows steep – asking His light in your darkness, the night-light that lets you sleep.

pleading God protect you from dangers that surround – begging Him to guard your heart and lead you on level ground.

asking Him to guide you when the way is no longer clear, asking Him to hold you up when your faith gives way to fear.

praying that you feel His feathers, as He shelters you under His wings – praying that you can hear His voice, as over you He sings.

asking God to meet you on the road you take today – just like Jesus sought out Saul, as Saul traveled on his way.

beseeching Him to heal your hurts, to comfort you in your sorrow – to give you peace in this current day, to fill you with hope for tomorrow.

asking God to make you wise and kind and good and true – praying you will allow Him to have His way in you.

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, . . . I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart (s) through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:14-19)

sincerely, Grace Day

I think Solomon was onto something when he said “there is nothing new under the sun.” The fuller context of his assertion was this,

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, ‘Look! This is something new’? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)

This is certainly true of our current cancel culture climate. It may have a new name, but the actual act of attacking and attempting to eliminate people and ideas from a society is nothing new under the sun, it was here before our time. Jesus, Himself was a victim of cancel culture in His day. It just went by a different name at the time. (stoning, persecution, execution, beheading (John the Baptist) a lion’s den) There were lots of ways to cancel those voices and those people whose words and ideas made other people uncomfortable and so offended them. Jesus was ridiculed, persecuted, arrested, beaten and eventually killed because of His message. The message of the Gospel was offensive to many and they wanted Jesus silenced.

Death on a cross seemed the surest way to cancel Christ and His message of forgiveness and eternal life from God. Who could have predicted He would rise again on the third day and hang out with His disciples for the next several days? Well, actually the Scriptures did predict exactly this, but I guess no one was paying much attention?

Why did the established religious leaders of Jesus’s day want to see Him cancelled? They didn’t like the message He was proclaiming to the masses. People were receiving this “good news” about the Kingdom of God with joy, but there were those in power who were offended by Jesus’s words. In fact, they were so offended that they wanted Jesus silenced, for good. How could the same message be received so differently by the people in the communities in which Jesus proclaimed God’s word? 1 Corinthians 1:18 explains it this way,

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Perspective is everything, isn’t it? So what is the “offense” of the gospel? What did the people to whom Jesus was speaking find so offensive in His words? John 1:11 tells us,

“He (Jesus) came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.” Why? John 3:19-21 explains,

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

That’s why they were offended. Their deeds were evil and their evil deeds were being exposed by the Light that Jesus’s presence brought into the world. (“In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.” John 1:4) They were also offended by the truth. Jesus brought Truth because He is the Truth. (“We have seen His (Jesus) glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14) Jesus came bringing light, grace and truth. Many find the truth of the Gospel offensive. Romans 3:22-26 reveals this truth that offends so many who hear it,

“This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

Truth – everyone has sinned! Everyone falls short of God’s standard! Truth – Anyone can be justified by God’s grace. Anyone can be redeemed by Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross. That was part of the offense of the Gospel message – it was for everyone – no one was excluded. The rich and the powerful resented any message which included the poor and the powerless in God’s coming kingdom. They had held their monopoly on God for so long. These rich, ruling class people were not about to entertain the truth that God’s love and mercy were extended towards every person, regardless of social status, ethnic group, gender, age or nationality. Jesus words made clear that everyone was included when He said,

“The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” (Luke 7:22)

“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

But the Pharisees, high priests and other religious and government leaders in positions of power and influence didn’t want to hear that God’s favor was for everyone, which would include the masses of the poor, the uneducated, women (who were excluded from participation in all things) criminals, the enslaved, the overlooked, the lame, the lost (we would call them the marginalized or the disenfranchised today) these were the people to whom Jesus was proclaiming God’s love and salvation. The religious leaders of Jesus’s day didn’t want to lose their power, position, privileged lifestyle and the influence they maintained over the masses by claiming to represent God and therefore administering God’s rules among the people. But if the good news of the Gospel was for everyone, as Jesus said it was, then they would lose their power over those they had been keeping beneath them while elevating themselves and even getting rich at their expense.

And so they were offended by the words Jesus spoke, outraged even. The truth of equality for each and every person in God’s kingdom was not something they wanted people to know. (“Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.’ ” Acts 10:34-35) In fact, some of Jesus words were just too radical to accept. (ie. “But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” Matthew 19:30) This truth was offensive to them and this offense justified being met with cancellation. They were also offended by the truth that they could not create their own righteousness before God by obeying the law. Righteousness is from God, not from the Law. Romans 3:21,

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.”

We are sinners. That truth may offend us but it is true nevertheless. We need a Savior. We may not want to hear that truth, but it is still true. We cannot save ourselves by obeying the law. We cannot trust in our own goodness because we don’t have any. This is a message the Pharisees did not want to hear – a truth they did not want to acknowledge. They had relied for so long on their own ability to keep all the Jewish laws handed down to them with some additions and embellishments along the way that they did not want to admit their failure or their need of a Savior. They wanted to maintain their power, position, influence and their prestigious status and lifestyle at any cost. The cost was the cancellation of the truth and of anyone who dared to speak the truth. However, it was hard to insist they alone were righteous in light of these words from Scripture –

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” (Isaiah 64:6)

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 53:1-3)

Voices of truth – they always strike fear into the hearts of those who do evil. And out of fear, these people attempt to silence Truth’s voices. They cover them up, they shout them down, they cancel them. John the Baptist was “a voice crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.” Those in power didn’t want the announcement of the long awaited Messiah’s arrival to be heard. Beheading cancelled John the Baptist’s voice. But not the voice of the Truth.

God’s Truth may offend, but His words are necessary, lifesaving and lifegiving. Truth is often hard to hear because it is not always pretty. (guess that’s why they call it the “ugly truth”) But God’s truth accomplishes His good purposes in us and in this world.

” . . . but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:10-11)

We are to be trained by the Truth. In Deuteronomy 32:46-47, Moses tells the Israelites this about God’s Word,

“Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you – they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

These words of truth are my life, I am told in Deuteronomy. Words that those in power tried desperately to cancel two thousand years ago by silencing those that proclaimed them, are still here today. The voice of Truth has not been silenced, nor banished from the earth, although many have tried. And they are still attempting to cancel and to silence Truth today. In many countries it is illegal to own and to read a Bible and to gather with others to listen to God’s word being spoken out loud. Still we have Jesus’s assurance,

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)

Truth will triumph over cancel culture every time. Should you and I remain silent out of fear, other voices will take up the cry. In fact, when the Pharisees told Jesus to order His followers to be quiet when they were celebrating Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem, Jesus’s response is telling,

” ‘I tell you,’ He replied, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.’ ” (Luke 19:40) The Living Bible translation says, ” . . . the stones along the road will burst into cheers!”

It seems the culture found Jesus’s words offensive then, (they crucified Him) just as they had found the words of God’s prophets, like Jeremiah, offensive in their day, (they stoned the prophets). However, cancel culture cannot silence God’s words to His world today, anymore than it could on that day so long ago, when they ordered Jesus’s disciples to stop praising Him. Truth is often offensive in that it is not what we want to hear but God’s truth will save us and set us free.

“But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:13)

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

I confess – I too often let fear silence the truth I would speak. But even when I am silent, God’s creation is not.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4)

“The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of His unfailing love. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; He puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him. For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.” (Psalm 33:5-9)

no culture can cancel God’s voice – it fills the earth –

sincerely, Grace Day

they moved the finish line again (if there even is a finish line?) Actually, the finish line has been moved so many times in the past eleven months that I fear I have lost sight of it for good. (if indeed it ever was in sight to begin with) But then I remember when the end was in sight. The end was in sight at the beginning of this race. How’s that for irony?

That was when this race was a sprint and we were to give it all we had to give. (that’s how you run a sprint – all out) And as good Americans we did, we gave our all. We all gave our full compliance for two weeks to “flatten the curve.” For some this meant shutting down their livelihoods, their source of income to provide for their families. So restaurants, gyms, salons, barbershops, movie theaters, clothing stores, book stores, all retail shops, schools, churches, business offices, sporting events, conventions, meetings, funerals, weddings, anything and everything came to a screeching halt so the curve could be flattened.

At the same time medical personnel and delivery people, anyone deemed “essential” worked more than ever in an effort to meet the immediate needs of the sick and of those now required to stay at home. The finish line was in sight and we all did as we were told to do. But after two weeks, we did not find ourselves at the finish line. (well, we were there but the finish line wasn’t) The finish line had been moved. It was now thirty more days to flatten the curve. For example, schools were set to open back up May 1rst now, instead of the previously promised April 6th date.

But we needed to catch our collective breath. After all, we had been sprinting. But the race was no longer a sprint. It had gone from the 100 yard dash to the 220 or the 440. This would require a different strategy. The finish line was still visible, but farther away than before. We adjusted our stride and our expectations and continued on toward the goal.

As we again drew near to our finish line, however, we found that it was no longer there. The finish line had been moved once again while we were busy running the race. Our track meet had become a cross country competition. Our course would now wind through woods, at times going off into the weeds. No more level ground of the track. There would be ups and downs, steep inclines, slippery descents, water and wilderness and more – all waiting on the path up ahead of us.

The finish line was out of sight, but we knew there was one. With the May 1rst reopening date come and gone and schools still closed, we were told that was it for the school year. School would start back up in the fall for the new school year. That was the new finish line. Restrictions continued as summer arrived and we strove diligently to stay the course laid out for us. But when schools did not open for the fall semester, when churches and restaurants remained closed and people continued to work from home – the cross country meet morphed into a marathon.

Ironically, many actual marathons had been cancelled by this time, as they draw large crowds of spectators, participants and support personnel. Most of us had not signed up for a marathon when we agreed to the two week sprint event. We had not trained, we were not prepared. Evidence of this lack of preparation was seen in shortages of various supplies, the shortages of toilet paper being the most drastic and the most notable. Apparently toilet paper is the survival purchase of choice? Who knew? But this seemed to be what people thought would enable them to run this race (now a marathon) and emerge victorious.

Although there was no visible finish line for us, the runners of the race, there was a finish line. Marathons by definition have a limit to their length. There would be an end and we would reach it if we persisted in this race against COVID. So on we ran. Well, maybe jogged, walked, limped, crawled, stumbled and struggled – but on we pressed toward the goal. And just what was the goal, we wondered? Where were the goal posts?

Weddings were cancelled and postponed, funerals were not held, the 500 was eventually run but with no fans in attendance – it seemed to be the middle of the marathon – the end was not in sight. But there was an end, a finish line up ahead, we were told. Summer streets were filled with protesters in every city – but schools, churches, businesses, stores, salons, restaurants etc. remained closed. Were we running in different races? Had they already arrived at their finish line and so were now free to live their lives, now free to determine their own path, to run their own chosen race – now free to be with other people in large crowds if they so chose? while at the same time, we were still required to run our race in masked, socially distanced isolation?

No one can say for sure just when it happened, but at some point during this time, the finish line for our marathon vanished. It simply ceased to exist. We were still in a race but there was no longer a finish line, an end point. This is no longer a marathon or even a triathlon, it is now simply the race of life. (some used to call it the “rat race”) People stopped pretending that there was a finish line. But the race to nowhere continued. Schools did not open or open fully in the fall. Outdoor dining became less desirable as the weather grew cooler and indoor options remained limited if available at all. Pubic events and family gatherings remained on hold, postponed indefinitely. That was the big shift. After months of multiple reschedulings, people stopped rescheduling public and private events. They just gave up trying to put a future date on the calendar.

Planning is not possible without a finish line in the future. The goal posts have been moved so many times, no one knows where they stand anymore. Yet still we press on in our race against COVID following – well, following who? Oh that’s right. We are following “the science” in this race – which has led us through woods, weeds, water and wilderness to where we find ourselves today. Which is where? on a very restrictive path, to be sure. There are a lot of rules for running this race. Some would say we are handicapped and hamstrung, giving COVID an unfair advantage.

But we continue on the course laid out for us, following our pacesetter and leader, science. We mask, we distance, we quarantine, we don’t gather together for celebrations or events, we don’t hug or shake hands, we work from home, we learn online, we worship online, we zoom in place of the in person encounter, restaurants operate at twenty-five percent capacity (which is not sustainable for any business), sporting events take place without fans in the stands, – life is lived virtually instead of in reality. (I guess virtual is the new real?)

We were told a vaccine was the finish line. We were told we could resume freely living our lives once a vaccine was created and made available to us. The vaccine is here but the end of this race is not yet in sight. Even fully vaccinated, we are still to mask, to distance, not gather in person in groups – we are told we are still carriers of the virus, even though asymptomatic and vaccinated. So I guess the vaccine wasn’t the finish line in this race after all?

It occurs to me now, that as much as I want there to be a finish line in this race, maybe the reason there isn’t one, is because this COVID race is really just a leg (that’s track talk) in our larger race, which is the race of life. This race begins before birth, as we grow strong in our mothers’ wombs, preparing for the race that will unfold before us, the race whose finish line is death. Ok, that makes it sound like we should all be running away from the finish line rather than towards it! Or at the least, we should be taking our time, stopping often along the way. But stick with me here for a moment, dear readers.

I confess – death does not appear to be a very desirable finish line. But perspective is everything, isn’t it? Paul shared his perspective on this race we all must run in his letter to the Philippians, telling them –

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14)

So Paul understood the race. He knew to “press on” and he knew where the finish line was even if he couldn’t see it. In Hebrews 12:1-3 we read another description of this race we are running, indeed, that we are called to run, and we are given these instructions –

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Here we are given some helpful hints for how we are to run this life race. We are to travel light, throw off what holds us back. We are to look to Jesus, He is our finish line! We are to endure in this race and not grow weary. Why? Galatians 6:9 tells us,

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

There is a reward for finishing the race. James 1:12 and Revelation 3:21 tells us something about what awaits us at the finish line –

“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.”

“To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

I confess – I am often weary and discouraged as I run this race, or more often as I plod or limp along. Still I want to be able to say what Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7-8 when I finally reach my life’s finish line –

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing.”

the gates of Heaven are the unseen goalposts that guide me in the race I run – I only want to run it well. Even though the obstacles named in Romans 8:35, trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword are all present on the path upon which I am called to run my race – I am told this in Romans 8:37-39,

“No, in all these things we are (I am) more than conquerors (more than a conqueror) through Him who loved us (me). For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us (me) from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

It is time I stopped looking for an earthly finish line. The finish line, death, is actually the doorway to eternal life with Jesus. The end is really the beginning. All things will be made new. I will receive a new and glorious body. Good thing, I will need it after running this race which is totally wearing it out.

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.” (Philippians 3:20-21)

I will not put my hope in an earthly finish line, seen or unseen. I will put my hope in my Heavenly Father and let His goalposts guide me. He knows when I am weary, despairing and ready to quit running the race. But . . .

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 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 40:29-31)

that’s how I want to run this race – with hope, perseverance and the strength God gives, eyes fixed on Jesus – soaring to His glory –

sincerely, Grace Day

We’ve had a lot of snow lately, which is not surprising since it is winter, after all. Snow is magical when it is falling from the sky, whether in big fluffy flakes or delicate crystals swirling through the air. Snow is lovely when it first blankets the ground, covering everything in sight in a soft glow or in dazzling white when the sun reappears to inspect what the clouds have poured out upon the earth in her absence. Either way, the fresh snowfall is beautiful to behold.

I wish it would stay that way – the snow – fresh and new and unspoiled and perfect – but it never does. Soon enough, there are tracks on her once unscarred, unbroken, pure white blanket that envelopes earth for the briefest of moments. Footprints, animal tracks, tire tracks, all make their mark on her previously perfect snowscape, changing her character with every new wound upon her perfect countenance. I watch from my window as this transformation takes place before my eyes. I cannot stop it. And I confess – sometimes it is my own footprints, my own tire tracks that tread upon her unmarred surface, leaving permanent scars behind.

Eventually, the fresh snow is no longer new, she loses her dazzle, gone is her clean, serene countenance. In its place are piles of dirty snow and slush and a landscape scarred by the day’s treading upon her cover. There are now holes in her once perfect, white blanket where pavement or brown patches of earth poke through, spoiling her once spotless presence. Sometimes my life feels like the spoiled snow – such good intentions, such desire for the purity of the clean slate, the possibilities of the fresh start, the promise of the new beginning. Isaiah understood what snow represented when he wrote these words,

” ‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’ ” (Isaiah 1:18)

David also desired the purity of unblemished snow. In Psalm 51:7, he cried out to God,

“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”

But the white snow soon becomes dingy and dirty and blemished and broken as it is not protected from the events of the day. A day can be full of many things, both the mundane and the miraculous, trials and triumph, heartache and joy, despair and hope, – a lifetime contained in each day – each day a gift. Matthew 6:34 says this about our days,

“Each day has enough trouble of its own.” The Modern Language translation puts it this way,

“Each day’s peculiar troubles are sufficient for it.”

And those “peculiar troubles” sure do make their mark on my day and on my heart. They do so as clearly as the tire tracks and snow plows leave their lasting marks on snow’s new, pristine work covering the earth and her multitude of hurts and sins, dressing her in pure white splendor for a breathless, miraculous moment, like a bride ready to meet her groom. I want to feel like the new snowfall – bright, hopeful, unscarred, unstained, unmarked by the world’s cares – but today as I look out on piles of old snow, grown gray and dingy, its luster lost long ago, I feel like the snow that’s been walked on and trampled down and shoved aside to await the melting away process.

Nothing new or fresh about today. But then I remember these words from Lamentations 3:21-23,

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” The Living Bible translation uses these words,

“Yet there is one ray of hope: His compassion never ends. It is only the Lord’s mercies that have kept us (me) from complete destruction. Great is His faithfulness; His lovingkindness begins afresh each day.”

That’s what I need – hope, compassion, God’s mercy, faithfulness and lovingkindness – and all new “afresh” every day! And that’s just what God gives – and He gives these gifts daily. This is a good thing because by the end of the day I definitely feel like I’ve used them all up and I am running on empty. However, God’s word tells me this important truth – His supply is limitless and He graciously resupplies me every morning! His lovingkindness begins afresh each day.

I like that. Each day is a new beginning with my Heavenly Father. I don’t have to feel or look like old snow. Every day is a fresh start, with a clean slate – no tracks or treads from yesterday marking up today, which will have enough peculiar troubles of its own. But I get to blaze a new trail today, the old tracks are wiped away. Each day, God gives renewal, like a fresh snowfall covering my ugly sin and making everything beautiful. And predictably, I trespass on that pure snow, making marks where moments before there was perfection. But God pours out His mercy on me again today, covering yesterday’s mistakes – giving me a clean slate and renewed hope for today. David desired that new beginning. In Psalm 51:10 he cried out to God,

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Other translations say, “Create in me a clean heart, O God,”.

Oh, to have a clean heart! How wonderful that would be! Yet how quickly my own trespasses leave dirty tracks across my heart that only God can wipe away with His forgiveness. I am so glad His mercies are new every morning – that like a fresh snowfall, His mercy covers my sin, then washes it away. I need His covering and His cleansing. Everyday He provides me a fresh snowfall (like the manna falling from heaven) and everyday I mess it up. But God’s grace is greater than all my sin. He continues to rain down fresh snow. He continues to rain down fresh forgiveness. He continues to make all things new.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ (Revelation 21:5)

thank You, Lord, for making things new – for making each day new – thank You, Lord, for making things beautiful – thank You for the beauty of newfallen snow . . .

“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

sincerely, Grace Day

today the world fell silent, listening for a voice, a voice familiar as our days are to us – stunned by the absence of a voice, a voice that filled the void in truth’s pursuit and freedom’s following –

a courageous voice, faithfully proclaiming, undeterred by men’s scoff and scorn –

one voice amid the noise of all the world – gone – yet there seems now an eerie silence in the midst of clamoring, striving voices raised in rhetoric to be heard – but none are clear nor understood –

I listen for the lost voice, that is no more – willing words of wisdom to rise above the din of hate and fear – wishing words of truth and freedom once again to hear –

who will step into this void so abruptly vacated, where a patriot’s words once fell? not upon ears grown deaf, but upon minds and hearts learning how to love a country in word and deed as well –

myriad voices fill the world, strange – one less would be worthy of such note – with this voice lost, we must find our own, speak into the silence, speak through the noise, speak into that space a patriot’s voice once occupied – freedom’s call should not cease – truth’s proclamations should increase –

today earth has one less voice but heaven’s chorus can rejoice – in that choir every voice finds its place, every voice is heard, every voice given grace –

may this voice’s void be filled with the legacy he leaves – may we love each other well and this country freedom bequeathed – may we cherish her as he did, may we sacrifice to keep her alive – though his voice has gone silent – his legacy will survive –

to us to carry on the chorus – to us to let our voices sing – let the bells be heard again, today let freedom ring!

“lift every voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of Liberty . . .”

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” (Psalm 116:15)

“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:6-8)

rest well freedom fighter, lover of liberty, pursuer of truth, defender of America, respecter of all people, – thank you for fighting for us, thank you for fighting for me, you were our voice, you were my voice, you were our encourager, you were my encourager, you were our teacher, you were my teacher, you were a voice of truth amid the din of deception, a model of perseverance, you fought to the end – victory is yours!

sincerely, Grace Day