Tag: politics

We strut around with our heads held high thinking that we are the greatest thing in the world. Maybe this is because we earn the most money, drive the biggest or classiest car, or live in the most luxurious home. If we stop and think about our lives, we should realize that everything we have was in some way or other was given to us. We may have sweated to get it but in the end, it was given, not truly earned.

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We really need to celebrate the miracle of being alive and reach out to those who are suffering in our midst. We can use our voices as a force for good and use the courage to do what is right, not what is easy. May have the strength to shine a light in the darkness and not distance ourselves from ourselves. This way we will always be present for others, realizing that what we have is a gift to be shared and a blessing to have for the community of man, not just for ourselves.

Teachers get it! They commit to a lifetime of learning new teaching methods to allow their students to learn. For instance, I learned to stop talking from the front of the class as the teacher and allow the students to carry the conversation, so I wandered around the classroom. It’s amazing how much my students taught me!!! We have to rethink our modes of operation and our own importance. We might learn something.

Happy Easter

Russell Kendall Carter, BA. MAT. Dlitt.

You’ve seen the ads on TV, the children in wheelchairs, disabled, with no arms or legs, asking for only 63 cents a day ; or the starving dog, horse, or cat and the spokesperson asking the same amount for food for these dying animals; I even saw one for the Heart Association. The other night I saw one with a very old woman walking in and out of a hovel dressed in ragged clothes. The announcer was telling us that this 90-year-old  woman suffered under persecution by the Russians during World War Two and now in Ukraine is suffering again under Russian occupation, and, you guessed it, for only 61 cents a day we could feed this woman healthy food and save her life.

There must be something magical about 63 cents a day or $19.00 a month; each of these organizations are asking the same amount. Do they figure that we are chumps for that magic figure? Excuse me! But all of these organizations are worthwhile!!! On top of this we have almost 800,000 homeless people with no place to sleep except on the streets of our cities.

You know; we have over 400 billionaires in this country. If these 400 rear-cheek tightwads would give just 1%, no 5%, of their ill-gotten gains to help correct these problems, can you imagine what our country would look like? Could you imagine? how fulfilling the Sermon on the Mount can truly be if this were to be true?

Russell Kendall Carter, BA. MAT. Dlitt.

If you are inspired, read my latest book. Kindle eBook $3.99

          (as the world goes to hell)

Gracious God,

hidden yet so near

holding our hands, our hearts

awaken us with Your Grace.

As we pray for those we love,

and for those who are lost,

even if they are enemies,

for none are true enemies.

We pray even when

times seem hopeless,

keep us in Your special care,

thus, miracles will happen

for our kingdom is Your Kingdom . . .

forever. . . and ever.

Russell Kendall Carter, BA. MAT. Dlitt.

If you are inspired, read my latest book. Kindle eBook $3.99

 

I just happened to open my Bible to Isaiah this morning, Isaiah 3 to be Exact. And as I’m reading, I’m saying to myself. My God, are you speaking about the United States today? Are we due for a downfall? Our president is threatening to take over two more countries as he has already taken over Venezuela. Our Congress seems too weak to stand up to him. He is putting armed forces in the street To calm protests while supporting protests in other countries.

As I’m reading Isaiah 3, I’m comparing the United States society, Of which I am guilty., and I’m saying that is us; that is me; we are complicit and falsely building up our country. Almost a blueprint of Isaiah! Is Isaiah speaking of us? Is it too late to tur around? Dear, God in heaven. OH, God surrounding us. Oh, Ancient God of the Israeli world, Yahweh! Please join us! Please help us to save us from ourselves. Please do not make it be too late. . . 

Russell Kendall Carter, BA. MAT. Dlitt.

If you are inspired, read my latest book. Kindle eBook $3.99

 

 

 

 

 

I believe in the God of Abraham

         who led our ancestors out of the wilderness

I believe in the God of Moses

         who led our Grandfathers out of slavery

I believe in the God of Jesus

         who showed us the way to eternal life

I believe in the poor in spirit,
          for they have shown us the kingdom of heaven.
 I believe in those who those who mourn,
          for they will show us how to be comforted.
I believe in those who are meek,
          for they will show us how to inherit the earth.
I believe in those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
          for they will show us to be filled.

I believe in those who are merciful,
          for they will show us how to attain mercy.

I believe in those who are pure in heart,
          for they will show us how to see God.

 I believe in those who are the peacemakers,
          for they will show us how to be called children of God.
I believe in those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
          for they will show us the way to the kingdom of heaven. 

This is why I pray: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt 5:16) 

Russell Kendall Carter, BA. MAT. Dlitt.

If you are inspired, read my latest book. Kindle eBook $3.99

 

 

We attend church and pray. And we know and understand and do  our best to do what our leaders suggest. We volunteer and give to various causes in the community. We pride ourselves and say that this is enough and return to our lives of hard work and hard play.

Maybe we should put the love we learn in church into action in the form of love in the community. We should take our love and share this, not necessarily with the person in the pew next to us, but with the poor family living in the dirt of the city streets. And we must share our most precious possession, our wealth.

Is it necessary to show off driving to church in a Porsche 911 when a Ford Mustang is also sporty? Jesus asks us to love our neighbor as ourselves, but we don’t. Let us forget our tithe and begin to share. Stewardship is making sure our neighbor has enough to support himself, not enough to continually accept handouts.

Henceforth, let us love God with all our hearts, then love our neighbor as ourselves. Then perhaps you will understand when I say ,“I Love You!” 

Russell Kendall Carter, BA. MAT. Dlitt.

If you are inspired, read my latest book. Kindle eBook $3.99

 

Beloved EUPHROSYNE how elusive you are

We struggle through life complicated

We harrow at self-created wonders

Short-lived as they may be

 

Your birth is merely a reminder

that we have not followed

the teachings you so freely shared

your birth reminds us that mothers

still have no place at the inn

 

only this time they give birth

in the rubble and devastation

of wartime and their babies

cannot survive the filth we create

 

Yes, Lord, LAETITIA may be and is

So often elusive, concealing herself

In our man-made rubble of wartime

Yet, she is there overcoming

The grief and lament we see and feel

 

Our images of God are always inadequate

Yet, our Love of AINE, makes life worth living,

For our elusive gift will not be found

Under a tree this week

 

But it will be found around your table

With God’s Love shared

May the gift of joy you feel this season

Be with you as God’s gift of JOY

All throughout the coming year.

 

Russell Kendall Carter, BA. MAT. Dlitt.

 

If you are inspired, read my latest book. Kindle eBook $3.99

 

 As we get closer to December 25^th, I wonder at all the wonder sights I see as my wife, and I drive around our small town of Smalltown USA. I know it is the Christmas season, but I am in no mood to celebrate in a country that seems to be preparing for an unnecessary war. Our leaders seem to be daring the leaders of a southern country to make a daring move so that our leaders have the perfect reason to “ open fire” ASAP.

I have never been to war, but I did train to go to war when I served in the United States Marine Corps long, long ago. caring and compassion in their vocabulary or their daily understanding of others’ lives. I do not say that others are not loving people; it is just that they do not understand that the poor people they see n the street are living souls who also have lives and dreams other than poverty and misery. They hear the sermons in church and are heartbroken but cannot believe it is happening right in their own communities.

The time has come for us to reconcile our hearts and minds  with all others. Our dislike and mistrust of people with different religions, or people who come from a country different from ours, must be eliminated. Look at our immediate neighbors. We all love God, no matter what name we call him; we all pray to God, no matter whether we kneel, stand, or prostrate ourselves to do this. We all have children that we love and cherish, and we all have worked to improve the American society when we were younger to leave a better country for our children and grandchildren.

We did this with  divided us, love in our hearts, not hate. We did this with the idea that we wanted a better place to leave our children than the one we grew up in. It seems that things and society did get better for a while, then another war broke us apart,

We are a see-saw society; one year we love God; one year we don’t. But each year we celebrate His birth and each year we mourn His death. Hypocrites all!

Christmas is five days away. This year, when you see a homeless person at the corner, don’t drive right, by, give him or her a five-dollar bill and wish him a very merry Christmas. Who knows, it may help her buy an extra something for her family and make her Christmas special. And it might even give you a little extra tingle also.

 Merry Christmas, Readers, I love you.

 Russell Kendall Carter, BA. MAT. Dlitt.

If you are inspired, read my latest book. Kindle eBook $3.99

 

 

I was in the midst of my evening prayers last night when I was interrupted by an errant thought about my morning blog. I immediately made a pencil note and  got back to my prayers. So here I am this morning and thinking about the very first prayerful blog I posted back in 2016. I thought I might expand on it this morning, but when I read it, I stopped and said, how about just reprinting it, for it is more powerful today than 8 ½ years ago.

A Failure of Love (November 1, 2016)

How pleasant it would be if every moment of life were an expression of God’s Love, an opportunity to experience the truthfulness of the Divine. All of us are aware of God’s presence as we watch a magnificent sunrise, or sunset, hear beautiful music, or watch baby birds growing in a nest outside our kitchen window. How fortunate we are to be able to experience this magnificent godly love.

Our thoughts need to be deeper than just a magnificent sunrise. As Marie Howe expresses in her poem The Map, “The failure of love might account for most of the suffering in the world.” This must include all suffering that we, as children of God, must address, or we do not deserve to call ourselves Christians, or Muslims, or Jews. In all our holy books, the call for love from God is strong; the call to welcome the stranger is the commandment.

Instead, we reject the stranger! Lindsay Hardin Freeman says the following in her novel Bible Women: “Fleeing one’s home in time of war is a heartbreaking last resort. Victims don’t leave for trivial reasons—because the price of food is too high. They run for their lives, in poverty, often alone, always in the shadows of death and destruction.”

These are truly victims of war; they are running for their lives. Can we honestly reject these people because they look different from us, call God by a different name, or speak a different language? If we are truly people of faith, we must reach out our hands to provide homes and comfort for these fellow sojourners. To do less is to violate Jesus’ second commandment: to love our neighbors as ourselves.

So now as 2026 comes rushing towards us, I again lift this up to our accepted standards of faith to convince ourselves to follow the teachings of Jesus and not the interpretations of some errant leaders.

 Russell Kendall Carter, BA. MAT. Dlitt.

If you are inspired, read my latest book. Kindle eBook $3.99