Author: rkcdlitt

This is philia; this is friendship; the ancient friendship honored by the Greeks, celebrated by Jews of the Bible, revered by Jesus in His works during His time on Earth. This is what God is doing in the world. This is our faith expressed in love, God’s Love. I know thee by name; I know thee by thy name; you are my beloved friend, forever; you are my brother, my sister, my beloved. Thank God.

God love us; all He asks is that we share our stories, share our journeys, our successes, our failures, be charitable when we hear each other’s failures. Our stories are all about families because we are all about families. God knows in His all hearing and all-knowing mind that when we share, when we find the capacity in our hearts to be kind to others, we experience a gratitude in our hearts that is like none other.

God’s Love is absolute. When we talk to people by their name, we share God’s Love, we share philia. Let us do what Jesus asks, love others as ourselves.

© Russell Kendall Carter, B.A., M.A.T., D.Lit.

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“All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again (Eccl. 1: 7).”

Do we ever think how the rivers keep flowing with water? We learned in our school science that clouds form over the oceans collecting tons of moisture and then deposit that water over the earth where the birth places of the rivers then flow back down to the oceans; it is an eternal cycle God created to replenish His Earth. Even though the water in the oceans is very salty, the clouds (somehow) remove the salt so when it rains on the land it is pure and refreshes the soil for our life-fiving plants. This is an example of God’s forever rebirth!

I think of God’s other creation: Mankind. We have been helpful; we have been destructive. Personally, I have grown to the top of my academic field; some would say I have attained wisdom; some would say I am smart. I am not so sure. What  I do know is that I did not become anywhere near either of those until I began sharing what little knowledge I attained with others.  I learned from them as they learned from me. This also is an example of God’s forever rebirth.

God brings us into this wonderful world as a pure infant knowing absolutely nothing; or knowing absolutely everything; it is then we just have to decide what is important. We have to learn what God’s mission on earth is for us. . . and then follow it as best we can. Unfortunately, we may never truly discover what that mission is; we can only hope we are on the right path. We only discover this mission when we die. It is then we know the mission is complete. We leave our loved ones in emotional  pain. But we know that we have completed the mission God has given us. We are a successful part of God’s Forever Rebirth.

©Russell Kendall Carter; BA, MAT, DLitt.

Brotherhood, such a simple idea. And yet, we have not been able to keep this simple idea since Genesis 4:8 when Cain slew his brother Abel.

If we just follow what the Bible preaches, we killed and killed for many generations. Jesus then simplified the Commandments, because ten were too difficult for Mankind to follow. First, love God, then love others. I’ll check with the families living in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but I do believe we failed at these two simple commandments also.

Let’s face it, brothers, we have failed at loving one and others. But, our God is strong; our god is supreme, our god rules all, our god is all-powerful. Our god is all-possessive! My god possesses me, and it is all mine; not yours. What’s mine is mine and what’s yours, I want. That’s the way it is brother.

OMG!!! Has it really come this far? I fear it has. Truthfully, I do not live this way; I share as I can. I give freely to three different churches. My wife and I support several organizations that help those in need. I am the chaplain for my local Marine Corps League, and I pray for all in my community who need God’s Love and Care. And, I write this column of Love and Care for all.

I believe in brotherhood; I believe in sisterhood. I believe we are all one family of God, regardless of the color of are skin, or the language we speak, or the name we call our Savior. We are all one family. And, I love you brothers and sisters.

So, when you part from each other today, don’t shake hands, that’s too corporate; hug, and if that’s too personal, a fist bump will do. I love you brothers and sisters.

Let us celebrate brotherhood (and sisterhood) everyday of our lives.

©Russe1ll Kendall Carter; BA, MAT, DLitt.                                           

I don’t attend church too often, at least physically, but I do online. My home church is downtown with limited parking and when I do get there early enough I find it difficult because it is five steps up or I have to navigate a steep hill to get to a doorway to go to an elevator. So, I get my spiritual uplift from modern internet.

After watching my home church on YouTube, I got bored due to the lack of close brotherhood I felt in the congregation and the neutrality of the lectionary-based discussion of the weekly homily. So, I tuned into the former church I attended before I moved. Instead of a conservative Episcopal church, this is a liberal UCC church whose minister is a vibrant leader in the equal rights from community activity in children’s education to voting rights to anything and everything allowing people of all colors and all genders to be live the life that Jesus taught.

Both are wonderful, compassionate men. Don’t get me wrong, the Rector of my current church is also a very liberal civil rights leader, but he rarely preaches about it from the lectern, staying mainly with the required lectionary. Thus, his Sunday messages can be a little stale.

Now that I have blathered on about the state of nothing. Let’s get down to the eternal question. I sent an email to the minister of my former church today praising him on the strength of his sermon. Then a few minutes later I sent him another that I expected no answer to, but I probably  get. I told him that if Jesus were alive today and walked up the aisle of that church today, he too would be walking in flip-flops (just as this minister was).

That got me thinking about Jesus in the marketplace upturning the tables in the den of thieves; and I wondered what and how long it would take Jesus to upturn the sacred raised mahogany benches our royal Supreme Court Justices hide behind.

Those in the marketplace made sure the leaders killed Jesus. What do you think our Supreme Court Justices would do, besides tell us that there is nothing that we could do to stop them, as they are now doing.

Jesus wants us to find God’s Truth, God’s Love  – – – always – – – that at least is the eternal answer.

Amen.

©Russell Kendall Carter; BA, MAT, DLitt.

What would it be like to be truly ignorant, to have not a care in the world except to forage for food? I have tried to think of any creature on Earth that would fit this description, but there is not. Even the ant builds a system of protection for its colony against the larger insect that threatens its existence. The most ferocious , wildest, scariest animal protects and nurtures its young until it is capable of living on its own. No, God id not create a creature that did not have some form of intelligence.

Then there is man! Our Bible says, “. . . God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them (Genesis 1:27 KJV).” We may not have the wisdom of Solomon, but we can learn to respect and to care for God’s creation. We need validity in our lives to really tend to the purity of God’s creation. This is the gift God gives, every day. I start simply. I want to be a doer in God’s world. Sitting on my back porch, I absorb God’s creation. I wonder how I can be true to God’s creation. Limited in my functionality, but not my creativity, I search the surrounding gardens, trees and grasses, wondering how I can prove my authenticity.

I am looking at my neighbor’s garden and I see a squirrel preening himself on a rock, and I am thinking how my neighbor has left a rock that size in his garden. So, I started thinking about that rock. That rock grew on me. What would I do with that rock if it were in my garden? What could I do? I started writing about being a rock. Maybe when I was twenty, now a piece of fiction. But then a light went off. I’m not the rock; He is. The reason the rock grew so big is because that rock is God. God is my Rock.

A simple squirrel was God’s messenger to remind me that I have the intelligence to continue to serve Him in love as I meet people and serve them with the Love that He gives to me and all people. Isn’t this what Jesus did and taught? As long as I have the simple smarts to recognize the little hints that God sends me each day to recognize His presence in my life every day, I will never live in ignorance.

©Russell Kendall Carter; BA, MAT, DLitt.

It is no coincidence when we find God! We awaken each morning. This morning when I awaken, it is raining, what I call liquid sunshine. I thank God for the rain. I thank God for watering my plants; I thank God for filling the rivers and the ponds allowing the animals around me to drink their fill. I thank God for doing what I cannot do, and that is caring for His creation.

Before I rise from my bed each morning I thank God for allowing me one more day of life with my wife of fifty-six years. I use a walker because my brain does not allow me to balance myself, but I enjoy every step I take.

We live with three cats; we are guests in their house. All my wife has to do is feed them and clean their litter box. Two of them bring us love in their cuddling. . . on their terms of course. The third cat is in control, she allows closeness on her terms; she will cuddle for a short period of time once or twice a day; she teaches us humility. She teaches us we are not in charge. She reminds us. . .  It is no coincidence when we find God! God is in her infrequent attention.

I talk to God in the morning. I talk to God occasionally throughout the day. I talk to God before bedtime when I meditate. I meditate to calm my mind because so much has happened in my life and so much has happened in the world that all has alarmed my soul about the safety of the future; my meditation calms me. Finally, I talk to God at night, thanking Him for keeping me safe throughout the day and keeping my wife, my grown children and their families safe. It is no coincidence when we find God! God is always with us.

©Russell Kendall Carter; BA, MAT, DLitt.

It’s about the future; when you reinvent yourself to God’s world, He gives you a new self, one that knows happiness, Truth, and Love. Jesus said if you give up your old self, you will receive a new self instead. Be it happy or sad, your past cannot rule your future. Once you see God within yourself, your future is clear; all you must do is listen.

If you truly listen to God, listen to your heart, you will begin to perform miracles. No, you will not raise someone from the dead, but you will perform miracle in your life and those around you. This is no coincidence when we discover that God is within us always. When we speak through our heart, we discover a universe both perfect and beautiful, at peace, loving.

Our brains are constantly bombarded by the news of the day, and we are dulled by the burdens of our everyday jobs. But when we pause we feel our hearts beating freely, unaffected by these turbulent pressures, for this is where God dwells. “So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” 2 Corinthians. We think that what we see and hear is permanent and affects our lives, but it is only God that truly affects our futures.

Our hearts and minds are searching the future for that one perfect thing that will change our perspective on what our lives are for. Let’s think about ourselves. First happiness. Does happiness depend on what others do? Does happiness depend on what we do? Are we here only to live a long life then die? Are we here to accept God’s eternal Love and then give it away, immediately, living a life in God’s eternal house.?

God cares not for the past because He always forgives our sins and welcome us into His eternal kingdom. So, my advice is to live your life according to the way He prefer. Accept His everlasting Love and give it away to your neighbor immediately. And enjoy an everlasting future life.

©Russell Kendall Carter; BA, MAT, DLitt.

Is it worth it. . . really? Is it worth perpetuating the social conditions they live in and the pain they absorb knowing that our culture causes their pain and suffering? Do we turn our backs on those as the people of Israel did in the time of Jesus so many years ago?

Let me tell you, if we ignore what is going on, we will never see God’s  works. We will attend our church service proudly and pat ourselves on our backs because we are doing His will and think that we are holy. And the poor are still suffering. And the poor are still dying without medical aid or proper food.

Is it worth it? No! the poor are still dying on the street right outside our church doors. We must wake up and see that we must no longer be entertained by them; I am changed by them; I am changed by them! I am woke! God woke me! I have left my comfort zone to kneel down with my brothers and sisters to pray with them; feed them; heal them, because God has asked me to do this. I do this because I care!

©Russell Kendall Carter; BA, MAT, DLitt.

I was thinking about perfection the other day. Our family was together for a pre 4^th of July dinner. I was looking at the plants around my daughter’s patio when I noticed a praying mantis preening on a branch in the sunlight. I ignored the banter of my family as I sat watching this wonder of nature, a wonder I was always in awe of its majesty of perfection.

I leaned in closer and realized it was just a leaf. Oh, how disappointed I was. But, as I turned my attention back to my family, I could not help but think about how perfect nature is regardless of how repulsive we may think an insect may be. For instance, I think a slug is. . .  ugh!

And nature is perfect! I look at my family. From my senior in college grandson and my industry captains daughter and son-in-law, I know our futures are safe. My retired brother-in-law and wife, both former finance professionals keep us honest in our views, even though my brother-in-law can be a little too pro UVA at times. And then there is me, the retired worn-out college professor and philosopher trying to keep all of them grounded to God’s earth. As much as we complain; as much as we get nasty; we love each other; and we are perfect, perfect because God created us the way we are, and we must learn to be together.

We love each other! When one is sick or hurt, we gather round to comfort him or her.  We care for each other! When one is successful, we praise each  other. When we are together, we pray together; we love each other. We are happy; and in its way, we are one of nature’s miracles.

©Russell Kendall Carter

I was alone; all alone. Or so I thought. I tried walking on water. I knew I could because if water is frozen it is hard enough to hold my body. I sank. The water was not frozen. Even though I imagined it was. I know that if I imagine something, it is real. The water in the pond was just water.

I tried something else. I lay down next to the pond. I closed my eyes. Imagined I was weightless.  I knew if I were weightless I could float in the air. Just like a red balloon. I soared through the air. I rolled over to look at the pond. And got a mouthful of grass. Opened my eyes. I was lying on the ground.

I have always been taught that if one truly believed, the belief became true. A great philosopher taught that man could walk on water if he had the faith of Jesus. All he had to do was believe. Truly believe.

Are all these stories just myths? Just illusions in the minds of the ancient religious leaders handed down in the traditions of the churches. Is all that I have learned in my life wrong? Ae the teacher and the ministers that I have looked up to and have guided me in times of trouble been lying to me all these years?

I am broken! I am broken by the reality that all is a lie! All is an illusion!

Everything I do in this life is a lie and cannot last. All of my education, all of the money I have put aside, all of the money I have given to help the poor, all of the time I have spent teaching, is a lie. Everything I have done, everything I have accumulated in this life is cruelly negated by the finality of death!

Period. Exclamation point! Exclamation point!

But all is not an illusion. I have been taught to love. I have been taught to share love. I have learned that love is eternal; I have learned that Love is God. I have learned that I am love that I am a part of  God and therefore eternal. This is not illusion; this is God’s Truth!

©Russell Kendall Carter; BA, MAT, DLitt.