Month: June 2026

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OVERCOMING

I have a list of what I consider to be bad habits. It seems that as hard as I try, I can’t seem to get rid of them. One of these bad habits is that I interrupt others when they are speaking. I have tried very hard to correct this inappropriate behavior. I have tried literally biting my tongue. I have prayed to God, “God walk with me today. Keep your hand on my shoulder and your other hand over my mouth.” I have questioned whether it is my ego getting in my way or is it part of my controlling nature. Whatever it is, I have found it difficult to break this habit.

This is just one area of my life that causes me problems. I have included this as part of my moral and fearless inventory and I have admitted these wrongs to another human being. I have even been entirely ready to have God remove these defects, but God doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to help. I sometimes wonder if I am the only one who has this problem.

I feel like the mythological figure, Sisyphus, who spent eternity rolling a large stone to the top of the hill. Every time he nearly reached his goal, the stone rolled back down the hill and he had to start all over again.

I read a story a while back that told of a man going to God and asking Him what he needed to do to gain the favor of God. God told the man to push a massive boulder. The man pushed against the boulder but no matter how hard he tried, he could not budge the boulder. Day in and day out he toiled, but to no avail. In the end, the man died without moving the boulder one inch. As he came before God, he lamented the fact that he had been unsuccessful in moving the boulder.

God pulled the man close to Him and told the man that he had been successful and had complied with his command. He had not asked to move the boulder, but simply to push it.

And maybe it is because I seek perfection instead of progress that I feel I have failed. I think God is telling me it is the fight that is important, not necessarily winning the battle. I will persist to overcome my shortcomings. I will continue to take my personal inventory, and I will continue to be ready to have God remove my defects of character. Hopefully, unlike Sisyphus, I will move my stones, one at a time, to the top of the hill where they will be forgotten.
In the meantime, I hope others will continue to tolerate my shortcomings as I try to tolerate theirs.

Thanks for letting me share!!!

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SUNDAY MORNING MIRACLES

Danielle and I drove nearly 87 miles every Sunday to attend church services at the Albuquerque Spiritual Center.
The drive we enjoyed most Sundays was on Highway 55 from our small town of Mountainair to Albuquerque. The drive was pleasant as it was a beautiful drive through beautiful scenery. Red rock canyons, tall pines, and small villages were all a part of the journey. It also allowed for us to have great conversations or to listen to some of our favorite CD’s on our way to church.

I remember one gorgeous Spring morning. The sky was so blue, filled with puffy white clouds, and the day was one of those crystal clear days that seem too good to be true.

Danielle and I had been listening to “As Time Goes By” made popular in the movie Casablanca with Humphry Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.

Suddenly Danielle shouted to pull the car over. I assumed an emergency had been detected and I found a turnout and stopped the car. Danielle jumped out of the car and yelled for me to join her on the passenger side. I ran around the car as fast as I could and met Danielle at the passenger side door. By the time I got to her, she had cranked the radio up and stood there with a big smile on her face. She simply said, “Dance with me!” And I did.

We danced to As Time Goes By for the remainder of the song. I remember feeling a bit awkward to begin with but that feeling soon evaporated as I held and danced with the love of my life in my arms. A memory not to be forgotten,

Now getting back to the original story. It was Ferbruary and we had some snow a couple of days before that had mostly melted. The temperature that Sunday morning was near freezing. As I was in the middle of a turn, our car hit a patch of black ice and skidded off the highway. We had been going 55 Miles per hour and were now sliding sideways on the shoulder.

As we were sliding sideways I saw that we were heading directly for a large tree. I knew we were still going pretty fast and that we would hit on Danielle’s side of the car. I was frantically trying to get some control of the car back as we were nearing an impact that was certainly going to cause some injury to Danielle. As I continued to fight with control of the car and just as we about to make impact, the rear wheels found some purchase and we were propelled back on to the highway. I was in an adrenaline fueled state but was astonished as I looked over at Danielle.

She was not the least bit upset nor concerned. To see her you would have thought nothing out of the ordinary had happened. I questioned her about it and she gave me one of her many lessons in faith.

She said that she was prepared to let God make the decision as to her future as we hurtled towards that tree. She was prepared to let God handle the situation.

I was unnerved by her calmness but years later as she approached her own death, I saw the same calmness in her as she took her last breath. I have been touched by lessons learned from this amazing woman and have been able to apply them to my own life,.

Call it a miracle if you like. If not call it a coincidence. You decide. For me it was a moment in complete surrender to our Creator and His/Her grace to Danielle and I.